Nearly a year after David Laguna was convicted of forcefully raping a Truckee woman, a Nevada County judge sentenced him to nearly two decades behind bars.

In a Truckee courtroom Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Anders Holmer sentenced Laguna to 19 years, 4 months in state prison.

From her wheelchair, the Truckee woman trembled as she spoke directly to the defendant at the sentencing hearing.

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“David, do you know what you took away from me?” she asked. “In my own home, in my life, there is not peace. I can’t sleep in the hospital bed where I was terrorized. I can’t look at that bed.”

The woman suffers from several serious medical conditions.

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The victim began an online relationship with the defendant on a social networking Web site called tagworld.com. After several months of correspondence, the 40-year-old Laguna left his Chino residence and arrived in Truckee last October, the day after the woman underwent surgery. Laguna sexually assaulted the victim on a hospital bed in her home.

The jury found the defendant guilty of six felony charges including forcible rape and dependent-adult abuse. Four of the felonies are considered strikes under California’s three-strikes law.

“The Internet is a predator’s playground,” said Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Francis. “This case illustrates how dangerous the Internet can be to any one of us, no matter our age.”