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REDWOOD CITY — A former San Mateo County track and soccer coach was sentenced to 180 years in prison for molesting five young boys who once trusted him and looked up to him as a mentor.
Italo Arbulu, 42, declined to speak at the sentencing last week, but anguished parents said his crime has brought them feelings of shame and guilt.
Arbulu's arrest in May 2004, rocked the community. Arbulu was a part-time track coach at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo and also coached soccer in Burlingame.
In May, a jury convicted him of molesting five boys younger than 14.
Prosecutor Karen Guidotti said there are two other victims whose cases were not prosecuted and countless other parents who are now left wondering because Arbulu had been a part of their lives between 1998 and 2004, when the abuse took place.
Arbulu sat quietly at the defense table.
He listened and, at times, looked directly at the victims' parents as they told their devastating stories.
"My son has been subject to unspeakable evil at the hands of Mr. Arbulu," said one mother. "He was assaulted on his person, his body and his spirit and he will literally live with this for the
rest of his life."
The woman said her boy was an innocent 10-year-old when he was raped multiple times by Arbulu, and he kept the abuse hidden for four years.
Now, she feels as if she failed him for not recognizing a problem sooner.
Before the parents spoke, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Craig Parsons told them that he was already inclined to give Arbulu the severe sentence that would effectively put him behind bars for life.
A father of one of the boys said he appreciates the fact that Arbulu will never be able victimize any more children.
Another mother
said she takes solace in the fact that her son's courage in coming forward has possibly saved other children from becoming victims. He has come a long way since the abuse, making the honor roll in eighth grade last year, she said.
Defense lawyer Geoff Carr said he sympathizes with the victims and their families but decried the sentence as overly harsh. Something is wrong with a society that would give a sex offender the same punishment as a serial murderer, he said.
None of Arbulu's family members were at the sentencing hearing, although his parents and ex-wife
both wrote letters asking the judge for mercy.
Carr asked the judge to give Arbulu, an ex-Marine with no previous record, the opportunity to be paroled when he reaches retirement age. He pointed to a psychiatric expert's opinion that Arbulu could be rehabilitated.
But Parsons said the fact that Arbulu abused multiple boys over so many years shows that he is likely to reoffend if released.
"The defendant has earned and deserves a very, very severe sentence that is designed to imprison him for the rest of his life," Parsons said.
San Mateo County Probation officer Anna
Miller said she thought Arbulu showed no remorse for the crimes.
The crimes and the emotional court proceedings have taken a toll on everyone involved, the judge said.
Parsons said he hopes that the victims and families will now be able to find some peace.
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