Chowchilla man sentenced to 135 years to life for rape

A Chowchilla man convicted of rape was sentenced in Madera Superior Court on Thursday to 135 years to life in state prison, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office reported.

Mark Garner was found guilty last month of rape and incest stemming from a case that occurred between October 2003 and 2004. He also was found guilty of eight counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child under age 14 between 1995 and 1997, prosecutors said in a news release.

Garner was sentenced by Judge Joseph Saldani.

District Attorney David A. Linn praised the investigators in his office who worked on the case and Chowchilla Police Department’s Sgt. Stacy Burns.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Chowchilla man sentenced to 135 years to life for rape."