Foster parent gets 40 years for molestations; Lujan was foster parent, assaulted three young girls

Author: Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News

A Denver man who served as a foster parent to dozens of children was declared a sexually violent predator and sentenced to 40 years to life in prison Monday for sexually assaulting three young girls who were under his care.

Joe Lujan, 62, watched without emotion as two of his victims testified tearfully in court, asking for a maximum sentence.

Lujan maintains that no assaults took place.

But his victims, who were ages 3, 7 and 15 at the time, tell a different story of repeated sexual assault by the man they knew as their father.

"I don't know why he did it," said one girl, now 13. "It felt wrong. It made me sad. It hurt me."

Her new foster mother told the judge it was "appalling" that these girls, who came from marginal families, were further victimized and subject to the "worst kind of abuse" after they were placed under the care of social services.

"He took my childhood away from me," said another victim, now 18, who was adopted by the Lujans and sexually assaulted when she was 15.

"He deserves to go to prison for a long time."

Added her sister after the sentencing, "It's disgusting. Thank God that loser has been put away forever for what he did."

Lujan served as a foster parent to more than 40 children at the southwest Denver home he shared with his wife.

He was convicted on nine counts of aggravated incest, sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and as a pattern of conduct.

"These were heartless crimes of opportunity committed against the most vulnerable children," Denver District Judge Catherine Lemon said. "They were all entrusted to his care. Instead, he used and victimized them, multiplying their trauma."

Prosecutor Diane Balkin said Lujan has taken absolutely no responsibility for his crimes.

"He has never shed a tear for these young girls," she said,

Balkin said Lujan believed he could get away with sexually assaulting the girls because of their young age and his position as their father and foster parent.

"He is truly a parasite," she said.

Defense attorney Marshal Seufert asked the judge to honor an earlier plea agreement in which Lujan would have been sentenced to probation for assaulting two of the girls.

Lujan withdrew his guilty plea after the district attorney filed additional charges when a third victim came forward, a 6-year-old girl who said she was sexually assaulted when she was 3.

lindsays@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5181