Guillermo Aboytes-Saavedra, the man accused of kidnapping and beating three youths last May, was sentenced Feb. 23 to three concurrent terms of life in prison, with eligibility for parole after five years.
Saavedra pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree kidnapping in Third Judicial District Court on Oct. 20, admitting he kidnapped the three youths, beat two of them with a wooden handle and scratched the letter M into the hand of one of the boys before detaining them in the crawl space under a home on Johnson Court.
During victim impact statements Monday, two of the boys and several family members described how the boys are afraid to go outside for fear something may happen to them again, have withdrawn from friends and activities because of their fear and trauma from the incident, and have had trouble sleeping. One described how being hugged now makes him flinch.
The Fernley Reporter is not naming the children or their parents because doing so could help identify the children.
“I try to forget it, but I will never forget it,” one boy said. “It will always be in the back of my mind.”
The boys said they did not know Saavedra and were playing in the park when he approached them.
“It hurts, and it’s painful,” one of the boys said. “My shoulder was so swollen and bruised. We were hurt in our butts and thighs. I wouldn’t get up much due to the pain of the injuries on my back.”
Another boy said while the physical scars have faded, the mental ones remain.
“I woke up many late nights crying because I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Having constant thoughts of, I could have done better during the situation. I couldn’t look at myself for a month or two after having the same negative thoughts and shame.”
Each of the boys and their family members said they would like to see Saavedra serve a long prison sentence, with some asking for a life sentence.
“I think someone who has hurt a child has no redemption after what they did,” one boy said.
The mother of two of the boys described receiving six text messages from her son reading, “911-911-911. He wants to kill me.”
“Guillermo changed our lives because he took away two children and he returned two different children,” she said.
Rosario Saavedra, the mother of Guillermo Saavedra, and his aunt, Eva Saavedra, testified that he fell victim to drugs that changed his life and said they were trying to get him help before the kidnapping incident.
“As a family, we feel saddened for what happened to these young men,” Eva Saavedra said. “As a mother, I understand these mothers. But I know, in his sober mind, he never would have hurt you guys.”
Addressing the court, Saavedra said he wanted to apologize to the community and the victims.
“I would never hurt them if I was in the right state of mind,” he said. “Growing up, I have seen a lot of people hurt people on television or whatever, and I really didn’t want to be that person. Now that I’m in that person’s shoes, I really regret it.”
Deputy District Attorney Brian Haslem asked the judge to sentence Saavedra to consecutive terms of five years to life on all three counts.
“Not only did he physically punish them, as the court heard through the testimony, they will likely be psychologically damaged for the rest of their lives,” Haslem said. “This man does not deserve leniency for this.”
Saavedra’s attorney, Patrick Mansfield, asked the court to impose a definite term of 15 years for each count, with eligibility for parole after five years, and for the terms to run concurrently.
“He lives with himself daily on the regret of what he’s caused, not only to himself and to the family, but more so to the victims,” Mansfield said. “He understands the gravity of it.”
In announcing the sentence, Judge Thomas Aberasturi said he considered what he described as “the horrendous acts and the terrible results of those acts.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is one of the most horrendous I’ve heard in 20 years,” Aberasturi said. “You can blame it all on drugs, the boogeyman or whatever, but you knew what you were doing to those kids. And frankly, it was some really sick behavior.”
Aberasturi told Saavedra he has a chance to turn his life around and would still be a young man if he is released on parole.
“But if you decide to go to prison and not take the opportunities they’re going to offer you, then you’ll be in there until you’re an old man,” he said.
The judge also encouraged the victims to recognize their strength as they grow up and overcome what happened to them.
“I hope you go that route and I hope you don’t use it as an excuse not to reach your fulfillment of what you’re supposed to be,” he said. “You do have a future and you can overcome it.”
Aberasturi also sentenced Saavedra to a minimum of 24 months and a maximum of 60 months on a separate charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Saavedra pleaded guilty to that charge Oct. 20 in a case in which he was accused of chasing a man with a knife.
He will receive credit for 303 days of time served in the two cases.
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