California Molestation Case Concludes

(Orange County, California) In December 2007, a 28-year-old woman, Sheila Marie Sikat, was found guilty by a jury on 55 child molestation charges in a case resulting from the discovery of a trunk full of child pornography movies filmed by Sikat.

Over 200 videotapes taken by Sikat showed her husband, David Hwang, repeatedly molesting several young girls, including Sikat's 4-year-old niece.

Yesterday, Sikat was sentenced to 50 years in prison. David Shoutyh Hwang, 36, was sentenced in October 2007 to 50 years in prison on 60 child molestation charges.

Sikat and Hwang were arrested in 2003 after a housekeeper discovered some of the videotapes while the Rancho Santa Margarita couple were honeymooning. Investigators found a locked wooden trunk they dubbed a "little chest of horrors" in the couple's bedroom closet; it contained 212 videotapes.

The tapes show Hwang molesting girls, some with Sikat in Orange County, others in earlier years with a former girlfriend. Sikat's niece is seen in four of the tapes. She was molested five times at the couple's home in early 2001, producing the four-hour tape that became the primary piece of evidence against the couple.

Jurors continue to be haunted by the images in the videotapes.