SD bar owner convicted of raping girls after giving them drinks gets 100 years in prison

HURON, S.D. – A South Dakota bar owner convicted of raping three girls after serving them alcohol has been sentenced to serve 100 years in prison.

Thirty-five-year-old Werner Fajardo (fa-HAHR'-doh), of Sioux Falls, owned the El Cuervo bar in Huron. He was found guilty in August of assaulting a 12-year-old girl and two 14-year-olds at the bar late last year. State regulators revoked Fajardo's liquor license in January and the bar closed.

Third Circuit Judge Jon Erickson sentenced Fajardo on Tuesday, calling the case one of the worst rape cases he had seen in 35 years behind the bench.

Defense attorney Carmen Means says Fajardo continues to maintain his innocence.