100-year prison sentence for undocumented immigrant who fled toward U.S.-Mexico border after Colorado verdict
A 42-year-old man who cut off his ankle monitor and left Colorado hours before he was scheduled to be sentenced for sexual assault received last week the prison term he had tried to avoid.
Jorge Alberto Campos was sentenced Friday to 100 years in prison - 20 years to life for each of the five counts he was convicted of in March. It was then that a Douglas County jury found Campos of molesting his girlfriend's daughter in their Castle Rock home from 2021 to 2023. The girl was 11 years old when the assaults began, according to prosecutors.
Campos threw his ankle monitor into a dumpster near his home after the jury's verdict, according to a press release from the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, and fled. His disappearance launched a nationwide alert by authorities who sought to take him back into custody.
Campos was captured three days later by state and federal authorities in Chapparal, New Mexico. He had boarded a bus and was less than half an hour from the U.S.-Mexico boarder when federal agents and New Mexico deputies surrounded the bus at a gas station.
A passenger on board the bus recognized Campos from Denver television news coverage and alerted authorities, according to the DA's office.
The office, in its press release, also referred to Campos as an undocumented immigrant who was living in Colorado.
At the time of Campos's arrest in March, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly stated: "We are very fortunate that nobody was hurt as he was attempting to flee the country, and we're grateful to have him back in custody. From my perspective, he should never have been out of custody. It's almost unconscionable that somebody could commit crimes like this and be put on an ankle monitor that can be cut off and flee. My understanding is he still had his passport with him."
During Campos's sentencing hearing Friday, Judge Daniel Warhola cited the defendant's lack of accountability, and "shocking" crimes against a child, according to the DA's office.
The victim also endured other family members declaring in court that Campos was not guilty of the crimes, one prosecutor later said.
"Frankly, I was doing everything I could not to jump up and scream, because it made my blood boil," Deputy DA Brynn Chase said after the sentencing. "That victim had to sit there...and listen to herself get put on trial yet again...Having to be subjected to that, and a lengthy presentation of the defendant's innocence, that was difficult to sit through without reacting."
Chase went on to say, "She's lost her family over this. It's hard to say it could ever go back to what it was, especially after she had to sit in that courtroom and listen to what her family still said about her. ... I do think there always hope for healing in these situations. It is no small feat - understatement of the century - but I do have hope that she at least has that good support system in place and is going to be able to overcome these insurmountable obstacles in the future."
Other prosecutors agreed.
"The victim is an extraordinarily brave person, and it was inspiring watching her strength on display during the court process," said Senior Deputy DA Abby Hegarty. "The real tragedy in this case is that the sexual abuse resulted in the victim losing her entire family. That said, this case does not define her, and I sincerely believe she will come out on the other side even braver and stronger."
District Attorney George Brauchler says Campos got what he deserved. "The words of the undeniably brave victim and Judge Warhola say it all," said Brauchler. "For me, the pain wantonly caused to the victim by the inexplicable, horrendous, and selfish behavior of the coward Campos is closely followed by the victim's mother, weeping in court and begging for mercy - not for her daughter- but for the monster who victimized her daughter over and over again. Campos stole everything from the victim. He should never take a free breath again."
