A former Salinas youth group leader was sentenced today to spend 12-years in state prison for child molestation. 21-year old Erick Mendoza pleaded guilty last month to 2 felony counts of forcible lewd lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14. Mendoza worked for about a year at the Pentecostal Nueva Vida church on the 8-hundred block of Beech Street prior to being arrested on November 23rd for sexually abusing an 11-year old. Mendoza will be required to register as a sex offender.
