A California man who previously pleaded guilty to raping and his killing his 14-year-old daughter has apparently changed his mind. Officials confirmed that he now wants to reverse he guilty plea.
San Jose Mercury News reports that Mark Mesiti, 49, admitted he drugged, raped, killed, then buried his 14-year-old daughter, Alycia Allen-Mesiti, in his backyard. He now intends to ask a Modesto judge to withdraw his guilty plea, much to the dismay of the victim’s family members.
“Mark is disgusting,” said Alycia’s great-aunt. “He uses the system to torture us.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, prosecutors were initially seeking the death sentence for Mark Mesiti, 49, but in order to avoid it, he took a plea deal in exchange for admitting that he raped, killed, and buried his daughter within less than a year after getting full custody of her. His daughter, 14-year-old, Alycia Mesiti-Allen, was found buried in the backyard of the suspect’s former home in Central Valley.
11 years after daughter disappears, dad admits to drugging, abusing and killing herhttps://t.co/OWFEcdHvj2
— The Modesto Bee (@modbee) October 18, 2017
Court records indicate that Mesiti gained custody of Alycia after authorities said her mother, Roberta Allen, battled with depression and was an unfit mother. According to Allen, however, she couldn’t afford an attorney to battle against Mesiti. In 2006, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Chiarello awarded Mesiti custody of Alycia and her brother. Within the year, she was dead.
In 2009, after years of Mesiti claiming his daughter ran away during a camping trip with friends, cadaver dogs picked up on human remains scents in his unkempt backyard.
“Dad’s story was he was getting phone calls periodically [from Alycia]”, said Sgt. James Robbins. “But it doesn’t appear she ever left the house.”
An autopsy later revealed that Alycia died from acute drug intoxication. An autopsy report indicated she had traces of amphetamine, methamphetamine, morphine, diazepam, antidepressants, opiates, and methadone in her system. Mesiti sedated his daughter with a cocktail of drugs, then took photos and videos of her as he sexually assaulted her more than 40 times.
Further, Mesiti claimed that his daughter wasn’t the first child he sexually assaulted. He admitted that he sexually assaulted a teen girl around 16 or 17 years old, and another little girl who was only 8 years old.
Authorities also found “hundreds of thousands” of photos of child pornography in Mesiti’s possession. Detectives also found incriminating videos, including one of him setting up a hidden surveillance camera inside the 8-year-old victim’s bedroom. The child lived with her mother in Mesiti’s apartment home when the incident occurred. According to court records, the child’s mother was Messiti’s live-in girlfriend.
The withdrawal of the not guilty plea means that the little girl’s mother will likely have to endure more months of testimony, should Stanislaus County Judge Dawna Reeves will allow Mesiti to rescind his plea. In most instances, a judge will grant the decision if the defendant had no attorney. However, although Mesiti is now representing himself, he had a lawyer previously, in the early stages of the case.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Police Handout]
