Placer County woman sentenced to 175 years to life for sexually abusing children

A Placer County woman was sentenced to 175 years to life in state prison for sexually abusing two young children who were in her custody, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Samantha Shurtliff, 34, had been convicted of seven counts of committing lewd acts on a child under 14, with a special circumstance of committing the crimes against more than one victim in that age range.

The Placer County District Attorney's Office said Shurtliff was a relative of the children and had custody of them. Prosecutors said Shurtliff forced the victims, who were six and eight when the abuse started, "to perform sexual acts on a regular basis."

One of the victims told law enforcement officials that the acts happened around 100 times. If a victim resisted, Shurtliff would dig her nails into their hands and punish them, including threatening to send them to an orphanage if they ever told anyone about the abuse, officials said.

The abuse was first reported after one of the children confided in a neighbor while at a neighborhood pool, prosecutors said.

The district attorney's office said both victims, now 9 and 11, delivered impact statements during Shurtliff's sentencing.