The Associated Press is reporting that an Iraq war veteran was sentenced to three years in prison for molesting a 12-year-old girl he met in a METALLICA Internet chatroom.
Deputy District Attorney Megan Baldwin said the military service of Dario Ambriz (photo), a former Marine lance corporal, helped lower his sentence from the maximum penalty of eight years. Ambriz, 23, got an administrative discharge from the Marines after his arrest.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Staffel, who sentenced Ambriz on Thursday (Sept. 1), said the former Marine must register as a sex offender when he's released. Ambriz pleaded no contest July 28 to a felony county of lewd and lascivious acts against a child.
"It's just a tragic situation all the way around," defense attorney Adrian Andrade said. "A young man who defended his country in Iraq, without any prior record, should have received a county jail term."
While stationed at Camp Pendleton in 2004, Ambriz met the 12-year-old girl online in a chatroom for fans of the rock group METALLICA, prosecutors said. The Marine corresponded with the girl for about three months via e-mail and instant messages.
On Dec. 10, 2004, Ambriz drove to Santa Maria and had a sexual encounter with the child.
Ambriz grew up in Long Beach and joined the Marines at age 18. He spent six months in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.
Back in December 2004, two 19-year-old Georgia men were ordered to go before the grand jury in Tennessee on charges related to an overnight stay with two 12-year-old Maryville, TN girls whom they met through a METALLICA chatroom on the Internet.
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