Menifee man sentenced to 50 years for sex crimes

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A Menifee man was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Friday after being convicted of 21 felony counts of sex crimes involving his three step-granddaughters and a grandniece.

Darr Shellberg, 78, was previously convicted at the North County of San Diego Superior Court on 20 counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to court records. He has been housed in the Vista Detention Center since his arrest at his Menifee home on July 26, 2022.

The four victims are all San Diego County residents and were abused over a period of 20 years in San Diego County, Orange County and in Temecula when they were between ages 2 and 13, said a source familiar with the investigation. In April 2022, the youngest of the victims reported that she had been abused by her step-grandfather for several years.

Soon after, the other three victims came forward. All four testified in both the preliminary hearing and jury trial, which lasted over a week.

Judge Kelly Mok ruled in handing out the sentence that aggravating factors applied to the crimes because of the children’s ages and the fact the defendant took advantage of a position of trust as a family member.