Child rape victim tells court of impact on her life as former Freetown teacher sentenced in Fall River to decades in prison

A 58-year-old former Freetown substitute teacher and Sunday school teacher convicted Monday after a four-day trial of numerous indictments related to the rape and molestation of a 14-year-old girl in 2018 was sentenced to serve 30 to 40 years in state prison Wednesday in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn announced.

A jury of his peers on Monday convicted Gilbert Hernandez of five counts of rape of a child-aggravated by more than a 10-year age difference, two counts of rape of a child by force, four counts of indecent assault and battery, and two counts of dissemination of obscene matter to a child.

Hernandez was sentenced by Judge Raffi Yessayan to serve 30 to 40 years in state prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised probation.

Hernandez knew the victim through a close friendship she had with his son, along with his role as a substitute teacher in the Freetown-Lakeville schools and as a Sunday school teacher at a church in Freetown.

The rapes and molestations all occurred between February and July of 2018 in the towns of Freetown, Raynham, Taunton and Lakeville.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Silvia Rudman and Danielle Pixley.

During today’s sentencing hearing, the victim in the case told the court how her childhood was stripped from her and how the defendant’s manipulations led her to lose many friendships.  She also courageously spoke about the impact the repeated abuse has had on her, detailing for the court how she has frequent nightmares and often wakes up to vomit from PTSD flashbacks.

“I want to thank the jury for holding the defendant accountable for the egregious and depraved conduct committed against a young girl. The evidence against the defendant was overwhelming and the state prison sentence clearly warranted. The defendant took advantage of the relationship between the two families.  He was able to obtain her trust, which allowed him to have repeated access to her, resulting in multiple acts of rape and sexual abuse,” District Attorney Quinn said.  “It is particularly galling that the defendant was her religious education instructor and a substitute teacher at her school. I thank the efforts of the prosecution team, led by Silvia Rudman and Danielle Pixley, and the victim’s family for their perseverance in the most difficult of circumstances. Despite the trauma caused by the defendant’s abuse, I hope the victim can move forward with her life.”