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Mesa man to serve prison term through 2055 in four sexual assault cases
James Estep was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to four sexual assault crimes. He will also be placed on lifetime probation, court records show.
MESA, Ariz. — James Estep, a Mesa man who pleaded guilty to four sexual assault crimes, was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison on Oct. 21, according to court records. His sentence, which includes credit for time served, is set to end July 31, 2055, and he will then be subject to lifetime probation.
The cases involved assaults reported in the East Valley between 2021 and 2023. Investigators said DNA evidence from a 2023 case linked Estep to an earlier reported rape near McDowell and Greenfield roads in May 2021. Prosecutors later said they lacked sufficient evidence to secure a conviction in the earlier cases and returned them to police.
In one 2023 case, police said Estep assaulted a woman in a church parking lot near Stapley and University drives. Court documents also describe a June 27 incident in which a victim was restrained and kidnapped, and a July 2 assault after Estep met a woman at a Tempe bar and brought her to his home.
In August 2023, police said Estep offered a 15-year-old girl a ride near Main Street and Alma School Road, then drove her to the area of Loop 101 and Apache Boulevard and raped her. Court records say she ran to a neighbor’s home and called police after the assault.