Northern Colorado Gazette

Buck encourages immigrant families to report crime

GREELEY – Today in Weld County District Court, Samuel Sanchez-Brito ) was sentenced to 16 years to life in the Department of Corrections for the repeated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

On Sept. 6, Sanchez-Brito was convicted by a jury of sex assault on a child, a class-four felony, and sex assault on a child as a pattern of abuse, a class-three felony.

According to police and court records, Sanchez-Brito sexually assaulted the victim multiple times during the month of August 2011. The defendant was living at the Greeley home of the victim and her mother at the time of the assaults.

The indeterminate sentence means that Sanchez-Brito was sentenced to spend a minimum of XX years in prison, but he could spend the rest of his life in the Department of Corrections, which will ultimately determine his release date.

The case also represents a success for the “Preventing and Reporting Crimes Against Immigrants” program developed by the Weld County DA. The program, which launched in July 2012, seeks to encourage immigrants who are victims of crime to report those incidents to police and cooperate with prosecutors without fear of retaliation by authorities.

In this case, the District Attorney signed a U-Visa for the mother of the victim to allow her to temporarily remain in the country legally while she testified in court. A U-Visa is offered by the federal

government as an incentive for victims or witnesses of certain crimes.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable reporting crimes and assisting in prosecutions,” DA Ken Buck said. “This case serves as another example of how the judicial system in Weld County seeks justice for all victims of crime.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ben Whitney and Deputy District Attorney Sadie Medrano prosecuted the case.

For more information about the Preventing and Reporting Crimes Against Immigrants program, visit  www.weldda.com and click on “Community Information/DA Programs.”

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