Two cousins were sentenced to each serve hundreds of years in prison on a combined 43 counts of child molestation, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said.

Judge Mark Urioste sentenced one of the men, Giovany Neftali Barrientos-Perez, to 500 years and four months to life. Bayron Vasquez was sentenced to 485 years to life in state prison on Thursday.

The two men were convicted of 43 counts of child molestation combined, including lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, rape of a child under the age of 11, aggravated sexual assault of a child, forcible rape of a child and the continuous sexual abuse of a minor.

The investigation was initiated almost six years ago when a Santa Rosa school employee reported a disclosure of child abuse made by a student, prosecutors said.

Between 2010 and 2021, police concluded in their investigation, the men abused four young girls.

In 2022, police arrested the cousins and a third suspect who was unnamed. Charges were filed in the case that alleged Vasquez had molested four children, Barrientos-Perez had molested two children and the third defendant one.

The third defendant, who was only identified by the DA as being a woman, was sentenced in 2022 to serve six years in state prison, the court said.

“Mr. Barrientos-Perez and Mr. Vasquez engaged in a horrific pattern of conduct that would never have been uncovered without the bravery of the victims,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said. “During the lengthy and very grueling jury trial, all four victims persevered and as a result, both defendants were held accountable for their crimes. I want to emphasize that it is never too late to report sexual abuse.”

During the lengthy trial, the jury heard testimony from witnesses and the four girls, some of whom are now adults, who recounted the years of grooming, manipulation and sexual abuse they endured.

Rodriguez commended the victims who she said “bravely took the stand.”

Urioste said the case was “one of the most terrible set of circumstances” he had seen in his career.

Barrientos-Perez and Vasquez were sentenced to the maximum possible prison term under California law.

Distributed by Tribune News Service.