An investigation by the Turlock Police Department into a suspected case of child molestation led to a conviction and a 280-year sentence for the Merced defendant, who had two previous convictions for sexually abusing children.

Jeffrey Todd Eastman, 38, of Merced was convicted by a Stanislaus County jury on May 20 on three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, and one count of oral copulation of a child 10 years or younger. It was also found true in a bifurcated court trial that Eastman had previously been convicted of two counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14.

On June 28, Eastman was sentenced by a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge to 280 years-to-life in state prison.

In 2016, Eastman sexually molested Jane Doe on four separate occasions when he was a guest in her home. Jane Doe was nine years old at the time. Jane Doe told two of her school friends about the molestation, triggering an investigation. Eastman was apprehended by Turlock Police and interviewed; during the interview, Eastman admitted to the oral copulation of a child 10 years or younger.

Eastman was previously convicted in 2003 for molesting a 14-year-old girl at the church they both attended, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.

Because Eastman had been previously convicted of two counts of lewd acts on a child, the minimum sentence for each of the current convictions was tripled. The court declined to strike the prior convictions and sentenced Eastman to the maximum term possible of 280 years-life.