The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office announces that Eugene Guertin was sentenced today to life in prison for child sex crimes involving two nine-year-old victims.

In July, Guertin, 78, pleaded guilty to six counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. Boynton Beach Police officers arrested him on June 2, the same day the crimes occurred.

Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss imposed the sentence and declared Guertin a sexual predator.

Assistant State Attorney Gabriel Montiel of our Special Victims Unit prosecuted the case.

In a memo to the court, Montiel wrote: “Only the maximum penalty available — life imprisonment — will ensure that no other child will ever be placed in his reach.”