Atwater man sentenced for attempted rape, beating of partially paralyzed wife

An Atwater man was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in state prison for the beating and attempted rape of his partially paralyzed wife when she refused to have sex with him, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office reported.

Francisco Carbajal Jr., 42, received the maximum sentence of eight years and eight months in state prison for the attack last year, according to Ilia McKinney, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

“I feel it was the appropriate sentence. It reflects the viciousness of the attack on a loved one,” McKinney said.

Judge David Moranda handed down the sentence Friday morning in Merced Superior Court.

Atwater police arrested Carbajal on Dec. 3 at his home in the 1800 block of Los Olivos Court. The 50-year-old victim was hospitalized after Carbajal beat her for refusing to have sex with him, according to Atwater police.

Carbajal pinned her to the ground and punched in the face about a dozen times, police reported. The woman suffered numerous head injuries.

Carbajal’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sean Howard, could not be reached for comment Friday.

A Merced County jury in March convicted Carbajal of attempted rape. He also pleaded guilty to domestic violence in the same case, authorities said.

“I hope anyone out there who may be experiencing this type of violence will realize that we take these cases very seriously and will prosecute them,” McKinney said in March following the verdict.

McKinney has praised the investigation conducted by Atwater police officers Levi Crain and Dave Sarginson and Detective Matthew Vierra.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Atwater man sentenced for attempted rape, beating of partially paralyzed wife."