SLO County Cal Fire captain withdraws plea in groping case. What happens now?
The Cal Fire captain convicted of groping a coworker withdrew his plea during a Wednesday court hearing, and now the case will face trial.
Cal Fire captain James Peter Thomas, 59, was accused of assaulting his 37-year-old coworker, Carrie Young, on Dec. 20, 2020. He was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery in January 2021 and pleaded no contest to the crime on May 1.
A no contest plea functions the same as a guilty plea without admitting direct fault.
Misdemeanor sexual battery requires sex offender registry for 10 years as a direct consequence of the crime, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Michael Frye said. Thomas claimed he was unaware of this in court Wednesday.
San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Bianca Agoyo told San Luis Obispo Superior Judge Michael Frye that Thomas had been advised on multiple occasions about the requirement he register as a sex offender, both before and after he entered his plea.
Agoyo also noted that the probation department goes over the parameters of pleas with defendants, adding that withdrawing the plea the day Thomas is supposed to be sentenced “does raise suspicion.”
Thomas’ lawyer Kevin Gres said that it doesn’t matter what was discussed with his client prior to his plea. The issue is whether he understood the consequence of what entering the plea would be.
Frye said he reviewed minutes of previous hearings, but because court reporters are not required for misdemeanors, the court record is unclear as to whether Thomas was advised and understood he would be registering as a sex offender if he entered his plea.
Frye ultimately ruled in favor of Thomas, setting a trial date for Oct. 30.
At the hearing’s conclusion, Young left the courtroom in tears.
“I just don’t understand,” she told one of her parents as they hugged.
Young told The Tribune she was working as a chief’s assistant at the time of the assault. The trauma she endured, she said, eventually led to suicidal ideation, coping with substances and eventually homelessness.
The legal process continued to retraumatize Young for the past three years, she told The Tribune. She was looking forward to putting the case behind her so she could focus on her emotional healing.
She settled a $1.75 million negligence claim against Cal Fire on Aug. 31 and now has a roof over her head for the first time in a year.
According to her Instagram, she was excited for the last court date “to be done with.”
Instead, the case will continue to trial, where she will now likely have to testify.
