A 28-year-old man from Ventura County is facing nearly 17 years in prison after a brutally violent crime spree, including the attempted murder of a child and lewd acts on an elderly adult in 2020, officials announced this week.
Prosecutors say James Joel Gonzales, while working as a caretaker at Royal Gardens elder care facility in Camarillo, which operated an assisted living unit and a memory care unit, sexually assaulted two patients.
Gonzeles was primarily assigned to the facility’s memory care unit where he worked with elderly patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
During a night shift on Oct. 15, 2020, the then 24-year-old defendant cornered a victim inside her room in the assisted living complex.
“Gonzales attacked the victim several times, pushing her down on the bed, and attempted to remove her clothing,” a news release from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office stated. “The victim fought back, and Gozales finally relented and left the room.”
He returned to the memory care side of the facility and targeted a 90-year-old female patient with dementia.
“He walked the second victim to a storage closet, locked the victim inside and performed lewd acts on the victim before staff started knocking on the door,” the release stated.
A day later, on Oct. 16, he was arrested by deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department after he crawled through the doggy door of a Camarillo house where he refused to leave when the homeowner confronted him.
He was released to family members later that evening, who allowed him to stay at their home overnight.
At around 5 a.m. on Oct. 17, family members awoke to the sound of loud banging coming from their young daughter’s room, where she and her 6-year-old friend were having a sleepover.
“A teenager in the home was first to investigate and saw Gonzales violently beating and choking the 6-year-old victim in her sleeping bag,” prosecutors said. “The teenager rushed at Gonzales, knocking him off the victim.”
The family held the then 24-year-old down and called 911.
“When deputies arrived, the young victim was in and out of consciousness, her face was bloodied and swollen. She was taken to a local hospital. She survived the attack, but suffered brain trauma,” prosecutors said.
In a July 2024 trial, where Gonzales pled not guilty by way of insanity, a jury convicted him of attempted murder of a 6-year-old girl, felony assault with intent to commit rape and misdemeanor aggravated trespassing.
Several special allegations were also found to be true, including that he caused great bodily injury during a felony, that the crime involved great violence, that the victim was vulnerable and that he took advantage of a position of trust.
The jury was deadlocked on two counts, whether the attempted murder was premeditated and deliberate and the felony count of lewd acts on the 90-year-old victim.
On Aug. 27, the 28-year-old withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, pled guilty to one count of felony lewd acts on a dependent adult and waived his right to a mental competency hearing, officials confirmed to KTLA.
“The defendant’s plea and convictions today enable each of the victims to receive the justice and closure they deserve, Sr. Deputy DA Tom Steele, a member of VCDA’s Sexual Assault Unit, said.
Gonzales is scheduled to be sentenced in September. He is expected to get 16 years and 8 months in state prison.