Jury convicts Youngtown man on sexual molestation charges

Jon Solnicka of Youngtown was found guilty Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court of molesting three young girls.

He faces more than 100 years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 31.

"Yes," said Alma Morales, grandmother of one of the girls. "This is what we wanted. (Halloween) is a great day to put away a monster."

Morales' comments came after a jury deliberated about 90 minutes before finding Solnicka, 40, guilty on all three counts of sexual molestation of a child.

Several family members of the victims shed tears as the verdicts were read.

Prosecutor Rachel Phipps-Yonas said she was pleased with the sentence.

Youngtown Police Sgt. David Evans, the arresting officer, praised the young victims who testified.

"There are no real winners when it comes to this case," Evans said. "But there were three girls who had to get up on the stand and look him in the face and say that what he did was not acceptable.That showed more courage than I had ever seen before."

"And having the prior victim testify made the case," Evans said. "The citizens of Youngtown, Maricopa County and the state can rest easy now that he is not walking the streets."

Solnicka is a probation absconder who pleaded guilty to the rape of a 10-year-old girl and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Douglas County, Ore., in 1989. Solnicka was released after serving five years and fled the state to Arizona in 2000. He lived in Youngtown with his wife, daughter and son, never registered as a sex offender, and did odd jobs as a handy man.

In June 2007, three girls, ages 7, 10 and 11, said that Solnicka had been molesting them in his pool. He has been in the 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix without bond since he was charged shortly thereafter.

The nearly three-week trial included testimony of the victims, their parents and guardians, Solnicka's previous victim from Oregon who now lives in Alaska, and various doctors and forensic interviewers.

Solnicka will serve his sentences in Arizona and then be extradited to Oregon to complete the rest of his original sentence.