Man convicted of molesting girl

A Spokane County jury Tuesday convicted a 29-year-old Spokane man of raping and molesting a girl when she was 8 and 9 years old.

The jury found Mokhtar Berakech guilty as charged with two counts of first-degree child rape and one count of first-degree child molestation.

Deputy Prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald said Berakech faces a standard range of 131/2 to 18 years in prison when Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza sentences him on May 13.

Berakech does not face the possibility of life in prison because his crimes began before the Legislature passed a law restoring indeterminate sentences for sex offenders. Under the new law, judges impose a minimum prison term and a parole board determines the maximum up to life.

Berakech was convicted of abusing his victim over a two-year period.

The girl’s mother discovered the crimes by reading entries in a notebook the girl kept. The girl said in a note intended for her grandmother that she was afraid to report the rapes because Berakech threatened her.

She was afraid to sleep at night, the girl wrote in her notebook.

The girl’s testimony was supplemented by medical evidence of injuries she suffered.