Ex-Fresno County high school basketball coach who had sex with teen spared prison
A former Parlier High School basketball coach was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation and nearly a year in the county jail for having sex with a 16-year-old student.
Francisco Pena, 35, could have spent three years in prison and would’ve had to register as a sex offender, but Judge Jon Kapetan decided that punishment was too harsh. He was convicted of felony unlawful sex with a minor.
The judge took into consideration Pena’s age, his lack of a criminal history and the fact he agreed to plead guilty. He also does not have to register as a sex offender.
“Based on the circumstances of the offense, coupled with the psychiatric evaluation that was done, I don’t believe it is required,” Kapetan said.
Pena’s lawyer Margarita Martinez-Baly agreed, saying his offense was a one-time incident and a psychiatrist found he was a low risk to re-offend.
“He also immediately confessed,” said Martinez-Baly.
Martinez-Baly added that that Pena has done a lot of volunteering in the Parlier community.
Along with three years probation, Pena will have to serve 365 days in the Fresno County jail. He will have to start serving his sentence on Oct. 16.
Victim says she didn’t have a chance to speak
Kapetan asked if the victim had submitted a statement and prosecutor Richard Burchett Jr. said he was not aware of one.
After the hearing, the victim’s lawyer, James Quadra of Quadra & Coll in San Francisco, said his client did have a statement, but no one reached out to her.
“The family is shocked that the victim’s position was not presented to the court,” Quadra said. “Moreover, the victim and her family are appalled at the slap on the hand Pena received for raping a child. It does not provide the family justice nor does it protect society at large. The fact that he does not need to register as a sex offender is a travesty.”
Quadra provided her statement to The Fresno Bee. It says, in part:
“We all know exactly what that person has done. He took away my innocence, he made me feel special and the last word that he told me was that he felt like a champion. He took the child that was left inside and destroyed it like nothing happened. No matter how many times I tried to forget what he did to me it destroyed me even more.”
The victim and her parents have filed a civil lawsuit against Pena, the school district and the Youth Centers of America where Pena worked.
According to the lawsuit, filed on June 12, 2017, the victim met Pena in 2015 while he was teaching an art class at the Youth Centers of America in Parlier. Pena was an activities coordinator and later became the boys basketball coach at Parlier High.
Pena is alleged to have groomed the teenager by becoming her friend in person and on social media. He would send her flirtatious messages, according to the lawsuit.
On one occasion, Pena messaged the victim and told her she looked 18 years old. She was only 15 at the time.
Eventually, school officials became aware of what was happening and Pena was arrested. The victim was traumatized by the incident and began to suffer severe emotional distress. She attempted suicide three times, the lawsuit states.
The civil case is still ongoing with a case management conference scheduled for Dec. 3.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
