SAN MARTIN
– San Martin ranch owner and employer Paul Raymond Kessler will
go to court next month and possibly be tried for allegedly
molesting two area teenage girls who worked for him at his horse
ranch at different times during the past seven years.
SAN MARTIN – San Martin ranch owner and employer Paul Raymond Kessler will go to court next month and possibly be tried for allegedly molesting two area teenage girls who worked for him at his horse ranch at different times during the past seven years.
Kessler, 56, is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a 13-year-old girl and a single count of similar charges with a 14-year-old, according to court documents.
Both girls are from South County and were working at Kessler Hay and Horses at 12705 Sycamore Ave. when the alleged molestations occurred.
Kessler was arrested for the charges on Oct. 30 but has since been released on a $100,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Deputy District Attorney Charlotte Chang declined to comment on the case and Defense Attorney Richard Weese was not available.
Court documents allege that Kessler followed the same molestation patterns with both girls – starting by kissing and caressing them, and eventually working up to fondling and penetration of one of the girls, although no sexual intercourse is alleged.
Kessler reportedly used both the girls’ love for horses and enjoyment of working at the ranch to keep them quiet about the molestations, according to documented police interviews with a victim.
At least one of the girls did quit her job at one point, although she came back because she missed working with horses so much, according to a statement she made in the report.
According to the Sheriff’s department report, Kessler would regularly give the girls spending money, buy them clothes, take them to area horse shows and promise to pay for riding and training lessons for the girls.
The majority of the molestations took place in the small trailer on the ranch that acts as an office and is located behind Kessler’s house – where he lived with his wife, according to the report.
The first of the alleged molestation’s began in 1996 and were not reported to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office until October 2002. Kessler was arrested after Sheriff’s investigators tape recorded a phone conversation between one of the alleged victims and Kessler.
Throughout the conversation Kessler apologized to the girl for his past behavior and asked her to come back to work at the ranch, according to the report.
Kessler was not available by phone by press time. His wife Joann refused to comment.
Kessler is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Martin at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 14.
Detective Guy Kuyat at 808-4530 is handling the case for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
