SANTA ANA – A man who broke into a Stanton home and masturbated in front of a grandmother and her two young granddaughters was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison.
Jurors in Superior Court Judge Gary Paer deliberated a day and a half in February before convicting Ozro Robert Lee, 46, of Santa Ana, of first-degree residential burglary, indecent exposure after unlawful entry and child annoyance after trespass.
The grandmother, 59, who is the children’s caretaker and suffers from impaired speech and limited mobility because of partial paralysis caused by a stroke, was in her bedroom when the man broke into the house last year, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputy Public Defender Kevin Hogle argued to jurors Lee simply used the family’s restroom after the girls played with his client’s dog. His client was guilty of poor judgment and nothing more, Hogle contended.
Deputy District Attorney Beth Costello said during the trial Lee’s conduct was “outrageous” since his friend’s home was across the street.
“No idiot goes to a stranger’s house to show them a dog,” Costello told jurors in her closing argument.
The older of the two granddaughters, 9, testified she did not let Lee into her family’s home and that he later exposed himself in the restroom, leaving the door ajar.
“Most people close the bathroom door, especially when you’re a stranger,” Costello said.
