A man who used social media to meet up with and sexually abuse multiple underage girls was sentenced Friday to 40 years in state prison.
Ivan Matias-Montes, 45, committed sex acts on at least three girls, but messaged several others with similar intentions through online platforms, according to prosecutors.
Matias-Montes pleaded guilty to 85 counts that include lewd acts on a child and contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, but Deputy District Attorney Carder Chan said there were numerous other girls he was not facing charges for because the victims couldn’t be identified.
Chan said none of the victims knew Matias-Montes before he reached out to them.
A now 20-year-old woman described in court only as Jane Doe said Matias-Montes first messaged her over Instagram when she was 14. At the time, she believed his name was Ivan Lopez and that he was in his 20s, but later learned he was then 39 years old.
Though their conversations were initially friendly, she said Matias-Montes steered their interactions into a romantic relationship and asked her to be his girlfriend. Jane Doe said that due to her naivete and relative inexperience with relationships, she agreed.
During the ensuing years, nearly her entire time in high school, she had her first sexual encounters with Matias-Montes, who also made numerous requests to send him sexual pictures and videos.
When she began to feel uncomfortable with the situation and tried to leave him at the age of 15, she said he manipulated her to stay. She reported him to police about a week before her 18th birthday.
“I believe Ivan Matias-Montes is a sexual predator and is dangerous to all of the underage girls in San Diego and beyond,” she said during his sentencing hearing.
Matias-Montes apologized prior to being sentenced, saying he felt “ashamed” and “very sorry for the damage I caused to (the victims).”
“There’s no words for my wrongdoing,” he added.
Chan said that in addition to Jane Doe, there were two other girls, ages 14 and 16, who were “repeatedly sexually abused” by Matias-Montes. Chan said those two victims declined to be involved in the prosecution in order to avoid being re-victimized by going through the court process and having testify.
Chan also said that “for nearly a decade, the defendant solicited countless teenage girls with the same twisted tactics that he used to ensnare Jane Doe.”
San Diego Superior Court Judge John Pro said “This is one of the most horrific cases of sexual abuse, physical trauma, psychological trauma and predatory acts that this court has seen.”
In a message to the victims prior to imposing the sentence, Pro said, “You did absolutely nothing wrong and your self-worth from here on out will never be determined by someone else.”
