Pedro Hernandez, 69, will serve 12 years in prison

The San Francisco Examiner reported that 69-year-old Pedro Hernandez struck a deal with prosecutors Monday and is scheduled to be sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Sanchez was initially charged with seven felony counts, including continuous sexual abuse of a minor, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child under the age of 10 and oral copulation with a child under the age of 10. Had he been convicted on all counts, he would have faced 100 years to life in prison.

Seth Steward, spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, said Wednesday that the potential impact of testifying in court on the victim’s mental and emotional well-being weighed heavily on prosecutors’ decision to agree to a deal.

School security cameras captured video of the June assault, which took place in a stairwell at the Castro district school. A teacher’s aide noticed the girl missing during a lunch break and entered the stairwell while the crime was still in progress. Sanchez fled the scene and was apprehended by police at a San Bruno homeless shelter a week later. Authorities believed that he was attempting to flee to his native Mexico.

Hernandez had lived with the victim before separating from the girl’s grandmother, and had entered the school under the guise of bringing the child her lunch. On the day of the crime, a police investigator who reviewed video footage of the assault told The Bay Citizen that it “it doesn’t appear to be the first time this has happened.”