| Chandler Rapist Sentenced to 168.5 Years By Maria Springs Santana Batiz-Aceves, also know as the Chandler Rapist, hung his head low as he faced a fate of spending the rest of his life behind bars. Victims and their families gathered Friday morning to watch the man that preyed on junior high school girls in the city of Chandler for 18 months receive a sentence of 168.5 years in prison by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kristin C. Hoffman. Batiz-Aceves pled guilty to 12 counts, including child molestation and aggravated assault. It has been over two years since his arrest and several of the victims and their family members expressed their relief of finally having closure. "The worst impact this had on me is knowing the impact it had on my family and the other girls," one victim said at Batiz-Aceves's sentencing on Friday. "I can finally have peace now that I know he will never get out and he's never going to hurt another girl again." Batiz-Aceves, also known by the alias Ricardo Ramirez Lopez, was originally charged with 47 counts, including kidnapping and burglary. He stalked and sexually assaulted at least five girls between the ages of 12 and 15 in the Chandler area of Ray Road and Arizona Ave. between 2006 and 2007. Batiz-Aceves was arrested and charged in January of 2008 when his DNA matched that found at several of the scenes of the attacks. The attacks all took place within two miles of
Batiz-Aceves's home in Chandler, usually in the early morning when the victim's
parents left for work. He would enter the home threaten the girls with a weapon.
He would tell them that he had been watching them for weeks. In
most cases, Batiz-Aceves pretended there was an emergency like a fire or would
impersonate a police officer and say that he would help them. According to prior published reports, Batiz-Aceves came to the country illegally in 1988 and has been working as a construction worker in California and Arizona. He was deported twice prior to his arrest, once in 1999 and again in 2003 and also spent time in jail for felony convictions selling drugs and burglary. Batiz-Aceves lived in Chandler with his
wife and two children prior to his arrest. Detectives apprehended him after they
received a tip about a suspicious car in the area and matched his description
with reports of the rapist.
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