A previously convicted sex offender will spend the rest of his life in prison after sexually assaulting two young girls in Aurora.
Gustavo Andazola-Burciaga
On Aug. 12, Arapahoe County District Court Judge Eric White sentenced Gustavo Andazola-Burciaga, 54, to an indeterminate sentence of 126 years to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
A jury in May convicted Andazola-Burciaga of five counts of “sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust as part of a pattern of abuse,” and one count of “attempted sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust” after a five-day trial.
“Our children are our most prized assets and also some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. By nature they are trusting and generous,” said District Attorney John Kellner. “Those who choose to target these precious little ones are among the worst offenders we see, and I am glad the court has chosen to sentence this defendant as such.”
In October 2017, the defendant was sentenced to prison in an Adams County human trafficking case involving a 14-year-old girl that generated media interest and prompted two other victims to come forward. These victims were ages six and seven when, in 2010, Andazola-Burciaga repeatedly molested them at his home in Aurora. At trial, yet another victim testified to being sexually assaulted by the defendant when she was nine in Denver in 2006.
“This defendant is one of the worst perpetrators our community has seen,” said Deputy District Attorney Michael Mauro, who tried the case with Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Jaramillo. “His decision to act on sick and selfish desires robbed his victims of their innocence and did lasting damage to their self-esteem and sense of security. After more than a decade of justice deferred, the court’s sentence does what nothing previously has done: It protects children everywhere from ever being victimized by this defendant again.”