Two men were convicted of child molestation in separate cases in Cobb County, with one ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison, the District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
A jury convicted Marco Flores of Marietta of rape, aggravated child molestation and child molestation, the DA’s office said. The trial was the first for new Superior Court Judge Vic Reynolds, who previously served as the GBI director.
The victim, now 10 years old, testified against Flores, also known as Marco Bucio.
“This defendant knew the victim was shy and timid, and once he had access to her, he thought she wouldn’t say anything,” Lindsay Raynor, assistant district attorney, said after the trial. “The bravery of this victim to come forward with her disclosure and testimony in front of her rapist at such a young age should be commended. We are grateful for the hard work of this jury and the Cobb County Police Department for ensuring justice was served for these heinous acts.”
On Monday, Flores was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 19 additional years in prison and a year on probation, the DA’s office said.
“When you take an innocent child and you take away from that child not only her innocence but the choices that she can make in the future about her body and her life, and you make those for her, particularly at a tender age, the court, other than taking a life, cannot fathom anything more egregious,” Reynolds said during the trial. “There has to be a severe price paid for those actions, and today it will be paid.”
In a second and unrelated case, a man pleaded guilty after a jury was selected, avoiding a trial. Jose Cordero, 62, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and was sentenced to 20 years, with eight to be served in prison, the DA’s office said.
In June 2019, an 11-year-old victim told her parents Cordero had been molesting her while babysitting, according to investigators.
“This young lady saw the defendant as a grandfather,” Kristen Judd, assistant district attorney, said in a statement. “He groomed her from a young age and violated her and her family’s trust. She courageously came forward and prepared to testify about what happened to her in front of 14 strangers and in front of her molester. Hopefully, the defendant’s last-minute acceptance of responsibility will provide her with some semblance of closure to move forward.”
In a third Cobb case, a jury convicted Jean Pharel Pierre, 34, of simple battery, aggravated assault and aggravated battery for attacking his girlfriend in March 2021. Pierre was sentenced to two years in prison followed by eight years on probation.
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