Page 2 - Mid Valley Times 2-4-21 E-edition

Thursday, February 4, 2021
| A2 | Mid Valley TiMes
Former Dinuba youth pastor
sentenced to 228 years to life
Victor Hugo Becerra was convicted on Oct. 8
Obituaries
Alphonso 'Pete' Anaya
Alphonso "Pete" Ana-
ya of Reedley died Jan. 8 in Reedley. He was 67. Mr. Anaya worked as
a truck driver.
He is survived by
one son, one daughter, his mother, Floretina Anaya, three brothers, three sisters and six grandchildren.
A private graveside service was held Feb. 2 at Reedley Cemetery.
Dopkins Reedley Fu- neral Chapel handled the arrangements.
Pamela Felix Christofferson Pamela Felix Christ-
offerson of Sanger died Jan. 21. She was 76.
Mrs. Christofferson worked as food ser- vice director with the Clovis Unified School District.
She is survived by two sons, one sister, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by a grandson, Tyler Rapp-Prewitt.
No services were held.
Wallin's Sanger Fu- neral handled the ar-
rangements.
Genoveva Elizondo Genoveva Elizondo
of Dinuba died Dec. 14 in Dinuba. She was 77.
Ms. Elizondo worked for the Internal Rev- enue Service.
She is survived by two brothers and two sisters.
A funeral mass was held Jan. 20 at St. Cath- erine's Catholic Church in Dinuba.
Sterling & Smith Fu- neral Home in Dinuba handled the arrange- ments.
Roy LaVern Lotspeich
Roy LaVern
Lotspeich of Reedley died Jan. 20. He was 89. Mr. Lotspeich worked as a teacher in the Sanger Unified
School District.
He is survived by
his wife, Joan "Judy" Lotspeich, one son, one daughter and two grandchildren.
Private services were held. Wallin's Sanger Funeral Home handled the arrange- ments.
Nicolas G. Mercado
Nicolas G. Mercado
of Sanger died Jan. 19 in Fresno. He was 86.
Mr. Mercado worked as a farm labor contrac- tor.
He is survived by his wife Guadalupe Guerre- ro, two sons, one daugh- ter and five brothers.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at Dopkins Reed- ley Funeral Chapel. Burial will be at Sanger Cemetery.
Dopkins Reedley Fu- neral Chapel is handling the arrangements.
Arcelia Castillo Mora
Arcelia Castillo Mo-
ra of Reedley died Jan. 1 in Clovis. She was 79.
Mrs. Mora was a homemaker.
She is survived by two sons, six daughters, 32 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
A church service will be at 11 a.m. Fri- day, Feb. 5, at Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church. Burial will be at Reedley Cemetery.
Dopkins Reedley Fu- neral Chapel is handling
the arrangements.
Margaret Romo
Margaret Romo of Sanger died Jan. 20. She was 83.
Mrs. Romo worked as grader for Central California Raisin Co.
She is survived by one son, three daugh- ters, one sister, 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a daugh- ter, Georgina Lynn Barnes.
No services were held. Wallin's Sanger Funeral handled the arrangements.
MVT Staff Report
A former Dinuba pas- tor convicted last fall on 19 counts of child mo- lestation was sentenced to three years, plus 228 years to life in prison on Jan. 29 in Tulare County Superior Court.
Victor Hugo Becerra, 37, was convicted Oct. 8byajuryintheVisa- lia Division of Superior Court on counts includ- ing oral copulation with a minor under the age of 10, digital penetration of a minor under the age of 10, less acts upon a child under the age of 14 and dissuading a wit- ness. All 19 counts were considered a felony and a strike offense, and in- volved four victims.
The cases of moles- tation all occurred when
VIRUS
Continued from page A1
reduced by more than 60 (to 508) in that time.
The declines were more noticeable in Tulare County, where active cas- es dropped by more than 1,000 (to 2,868) during the week and the percentage rate fall by nearly seven points to 12.2 percent. The death rate grew to 606, but hospitalizations dipped slightly and re- coveries were back up to 92.3 percent.
Tulare County's figures for the week showed that 24,147 peo- ple had been vaccinated as of Feb. 2.
Individual cities cases in Tulare County only had been updated through Friday, Jan. 29 on the website as of Feb. 2. But a promising sign was that all those cities cases in the previous three weeks had dropped sharply in the two days from the previ- ous report on Jan. 26.
ARSON
Continued from page A1
the fire made entry into the building.
Just before 7 a.m. the district announced the arson on their Facebook page. “Please be advised due to arson in the main building of Sanger Uni- fied’s district office,
Becerra
worked
asa
youth
pastor at
Calvary
Apostolic
Church
in Di-
nuba.
The mo-
lestation
crimes occurred in a time frame between May 2007 and April 2013. Information re- garding Becerra's mis- conduct first came to light in 2017 when pro- testors first gathered in front of the Dinuba church.
Two of the victims were daughters of Becerra's wife's sister and a third victim was his wife's younger sis- ter. A fourth victim was
a friend of the family. Becerra reportedly at- tempted to dissuade one of the victims in March 2019 from participating in the prosecution.
Becerra was sen- tenced to 15 years to life, all consecutive, for counts 1-7, 11-16 and 18-19. Counts 8 through 10 were 15 years to life pursuant to penal code 654, and the count for dissuading the witness was three years aggra- vated.
After the October conviction, the sentenc- ing was twice continued from November and De- cember to late January.
In addition to his 228 years to life sentence, Becerra is required to register as a sex offend- er for the remainder of his life.
Victor Hugo Becerra
COVID-19 update
As of the most recent update on Monday, Feb. 1, there had been 88,852 confirmed cases (no active update) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) out of 708,345 tests in Fresno County, with 1,173 deaths and 481 hospitalized.
29. Squaw Valley and Dunlap had 46 and six total positive cases, respectively, through its last update on Dec. 29. The county announced on its website that it will not list recoveries at this time to reallocate staff for new cases.
Among Mid Valley Times cities in the county through Jan. 29 (the Fresno County dashboard page is under construction until early 2021), Sanger continues to have the most total overall positive cases with 3,930. Through the Jan. 29 unofficial printed update, Reedley is at 3,035 cases; Parlier was listed with 2,277 cases and Orange Cove had 1,357 cases. Del Rey was at 284 cases while Fowler had 863 cases through Jan.
In Tulare County, there were 45,398 total confirmed cases (2,868 active) of COVID-19 with 606 deaths and 142 hospitalized as of Tuesday, Feb. 2. Breakdowns by cities/ regions through Jan. 28 show 3,844 cases in Dinuba, 1,306 in Orosi, 692 in Cutler, 227 in Traver, 50 in the rural area south of Reedley and 18 intheruralareasoutheast of Orange Cove.
A total of 41,924 people (92.3 percent) in Tulare County were listed as recovered as of Feb. 2.
services from these de- partments have been interrupted and our dis- trict office is temporar- ily inaccessible,” part of the statement read.
AsofFeb.2,noup- dates have been made
in the case, officials on scene said the matter is under investigation.
Anyone with informa- tion on this case is asked to call the Sanger Police Department at (559) 875- 8521.
The Jan. 28 article on the Dinuba Chamber Awards incorrectly list- ed last year's winners as 2020; they actually were for 2019. This year's win-
ners are for 2020.
Also in the Jan. 28 is-
sue, hair salon owner Maricela Saenz had her last name misspelled. The Times regrets the error.
For The Record
Published every Thursday by Mid Valley Publishing 1130 “G” Street, Reedley, CA. 93654
(559) 638-2244
•••••••
Mid Valley Times Staff
Fred Hall
Jon Earnest Juanita Adame Dick Sheppard Duby Treviño Clinton Antonio Janie Lucio Debra Leak
Publisher News/Sports Editor Features Editor Editor Emeritus Graphic Artist Graphic Artist Advertising Marketing
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MID VALLEY TIMES invites letters from the public on any topic of relevance. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or brevity, and we reserve the right to NOT publish them if they could be deemed libelous, slanderous, or profane. Letters from the same author may not be published more than once in a 30-day pe- riod. Letters should be 300 words or less and bear the author’s name, address, phone number and signature. Typed or legibly hand-written letters should be mailed, e-mailed or personally delivered to: Letters to the Edi- tor, Mid Valley Times, 1130 G St., Reedley, CA 93654.
RobeRt “Sa m” Lopez
Robert “Sam” Lopez, passed away peacefully on January 15, 2021. He was born on June 27th, 1943 in Sanger. Sam will be remembered as a man of few words who often times showed his love through grand gestures, instead.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Rosendo and Mary Lopez and his siblings Eleanor Lopez, Victor Lopez and Rosendo “Junie” Lopez.
Sam was married in 1963 and was the father of three children: Robert Gary Lopez (Carmen), Tabitha Martinez (Ramiro) and Samuel Lopez (Ana). He is survived by his brother David Lopez (Nora) and sisters, Patsy Gardener (Jack) and Rose Marie (Cano). He is also survived by three grandchildren; Gary Michael, Samantha, Alexia and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2021, 5 p.m. at Window of Heaven Church,
June 27, 1943 ~
January 15, 2021
831 “O” Street in Sanger.
Maria Violeta Sa nchez
September 19 1954 ~ January 00, 2021
Maria was born on September 19, 1954 in Arizona, but raised most of her life in the valley. Maria got married at 20 years old but after 12 years Divorced. On her own, she raised four kids, Daniel, Sergio, Regina and Cecilia.
Maria was a beautiful red headed lady. She enjoyed dressing up and looking amazing for friends and family. She was very loving, big heart and had a corky sense of humor . She made everyone laugh and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.
She leaves many loved ones behind but her family and friends will go on in remembrance of our dear friend and loving mother. May the
Lord embrace you with open arms. “Thank you for everything Mom, till we meet again”.
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