Las Vegas man gets 54 life sentences for sexually assaulting children

A Las Vegas man who sexually tortured children for a decade was sentenced Tuesday to 54 life prison sentences.

Christopher Sena would not be eligible for parole until he served more than 337 years behind bars, or the year 2356, according to the sentence handed down by District Judge William Kephart.

Sena, 52, was found guilty in February of multiple counts of sexual assault with a minor, incest, use of a minor in the production of pornography, lewdness with a child younger than 14 and child abuse. Some of the acts with his own children and other family members were videotaped and played to the jury at trial.

Chief Deputy District Attorney James Sweetin had asked the judge to “send a message” about Sena’s conduct.

“We know who he is because he’s demonstrated who he is over a decade,” Sweetin said. “This was all done without concern for the children or anyone else. This is what he wanted, and this is what he got.”

The judge called Sena, jailed since late 2014, “highly selfish” with “a very perverted mind.”

“I’m ashamed that it had to come out of the city that I love,” Kephart said.

One of the victims, now an adult, spoke of the years of “evils” she suffered “all for his selfish desires.”

She told the judge that she has tried to move on, recently graduating from college.

“I was just an object for him to do awful things to because there was no one there to tell him otherwise,” she said. “It was better without him in my life.”

At his trial, jurors found Sena guilty of 95 of the 120 counts he faced.

After Las Vegas police learned of the abuse allegations in late 2014, a SWAT team served a warrant at the family’s trailer south of Nellis Air Force Base. Authorities later learned that Sena videotaped sexual abuse of the children and sexual encounters with a family dog.

His then-wife, Deborah Sena, and ex-wife, Terrie Sena, also were charged and have been sent to prison, each for 10 years to life.

Deputy Public Defender Violet Radosta argued that the women were willing participants.

“The state evaluated and valued that conduct,” Radosta said, adding later that she planned to appeal the sentence. “They are giving two completely unrelated arguments to why Mr. Sena should be given so much more time.”

After the judge asked Sena whether he wanted to speak, he replied, “No, not at this moment.”

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.