On July 22, 2009, the Honorable Judge Gerald Sevier sentenced 52-year-old Keven Grisham of Santa Maria to 229 years and 8 months to life in prison. The defendant was also ordered to pay fines and register as a sex offender.

On June 18, 2009, Grisham was convicted by a jury of twenty-one felony charges. These felonies included 10 counts of forcible child molestation, four counts of child molestation, two counts of forcible rape, one count of forcible sodomy, one count of forcible oral copulation, two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and one count of oral copulation with a minor. The crimes occurred between 1996 and 2003 when the defendant molested three different girls while he lived in the Porterville area. The crimes were reported to the Sheriff’s Department when one of the victims learned that a young girl was living in the same residence with the defendant, and was worried that something would happen to her.

The case was investigated by Detective Jason Kennedy of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and Investigator Keith Smith of the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations. Deputy District Attorney Mikki Verissimo prosecuted the case.

Contact Person: Shani Jenkins, Assistant District Attorney (559) 733-6411.