Back in 1977, he was living here with Jackie Zudis, a girl whom he allegedly bought when she was 5 years old in 1972, while he was working in South Vietnam as an American government contractor. England to date never has been convicted of molesting Zudis, who in the late 1970s did not reveal her own alleged victimization at his hands. But last week she appeared in a videotaped FBI interview, which was screened during a news conference on Thursday convened by Rackauckus. In the video, Zudis alleged a litany of beastly acts, including rape, done to her by England over the course of 11 years.
In October ’77, England was convicted on three counts of molestation of 9- and 10-year-old girls, who were Zudis’ friends. Before being sentenced, he fled Orange County, taking Zudis with him. He went on the lam for 29 years. While on the run he took on the identity of a real person, Stephen Arthur Seagoe. Seagoe would have been about England’s age, except that he died in Santa Barbara at 11 months old.
England was arrested in Florida in May 2005. But when he was finally sentenced in September 2006, he got a term of three years to life in prison. He was sentenced under 1977 law, which stipulated a maximum sentence of six years in state prison. Had England been convicted of committing those crimes today, he could have been sent away for a term of 45 years to life, the D.A. has maintained.
