"Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher's former uncle whom she accused of molesting her and helped put in prison for molesting two young girls, one of whom committed suicide, died Tuesday of colon cancer, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Richard Hayes Stone — the former husband of Hatcher's mother's sister — had been serving a 14-year sentence when he died at the Alvarado Medical Center in San Diego, Craig Ostendorf, a spokesman for Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, told the San Jose Mercury News.
Stone, 70, had been in prison for six years.
"It closes the book on a very, very sad tragedy," Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Chuck Gillingham, who prosecuted Stone, told the paper. "Unfortunately those who are still alive will always suffer from his actions."
In 2002, Sunnyvale teenager Sarah Van Cleemput shot herself in the head leaving behind a note that said: "You're probably thinking a normal teenager doesn't do this; well, ask Dick!"
According to prosecutors, "Dick" was Stone, a former engineer at National Semiconductor who was a trusted family friend of the Van Cleemputs. The families vacationed together.
After reading about the case while visiting her parents in her native Sunnyvale, Hatcher contacted prosecutors. She told Gillingham that Stone molested her in the late 1960s and early '70s when she was no more than 7.
After prosecutors gave the defense a transcript of Hatcher's interview, Stone pleaded guilty Oct. 24, 2002. Hatcher went public with her story in 2006.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.