How to resolve AdBlock issue? NORTH COAST, Calif. — A former Clearlake resident has been sentenced to a 200-years-to-life prison sentence for a sexual abuse case involving children that lasted several years.
On Monday, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Troye Shaffer handed down the sentence to Gerald Martin Bloom III, 40.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office told Lake County News that the offenses occurred between 2014 and 2020.
All of the charges involve committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities said the case involved two victims.
Bloom was previously a Lake County resident, most recently residing in Clearlake, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Case records show that the initial report came from the Rohnert Park Police Department, with the case filed in August 2023. He was reported to have been living in Rohnert Park at the time of the offenses, and then moved to Clearlake, where he was taken into custody.
Court records show that, at the end of an 11-day trial, a jury found Bloom guilty in March of eight felony charges, including four for forcible lewd act upon a child and four for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under age 14.
Additionally, the jury found to be true eight special allegations of sex crimes, based on court records.
The District Attorney’s Office said that, in giving Bloom a 200 years to life sentence, Judge Shaffer handed down the maximum possible sentence.
Lake County News asked the agency if, based on the sentence, the Bloom case was amongst the worst cases their office has prosecuted in recent years.
“We prosecute many significant cases every year with lengthy sentences,” said Assistant District Attorney Brian Staebell.
“However,” Staebell added, “this was a very serious and sad case, and the sentence was very appropriate.”
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