Police continue to sort through evidence confiscated from San
Juan resident found with a 42-page guide on how to avoid police
By Danielle Smith, Staff Writer
Hollister- The San Benito County District Attorney’s Office charged San Juan Bautista resident William Lavagnino Jr. with three felony and 10 misdemeanor counts alleging he molested an 11-year-old girl, and will appear before a judge next week to enter a plea.
Lavagnino, 53, faces two felony charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, one felony charge of sending harmful matter with an intent to seduce and 10 misdemeanor charges of annoying or molesting a child younger than 18. And police say further investigation into the man they found with a 42-page guide for pedophiles on how to avoid police detection could yield additional charges.
District Attorney John Sarsfield filed the 13 charges Friday, and said if convicted, Lavagnino could easily face up to eight years in prison.
“We take cases involving child victims very seriously,” Sarsfield said.
Both Sarsfield and Deputy District Attorney Steven Wagner will be prosecuting the case. Lavagnino refused to offer the name of his defense attorney or comment Tuesday afternoon.
Police arrested Lavagnino in early December on child molestation charges, seizing a sizable collection of pornographic material in the process. Police were alerted to the incident after the victim’s father brought in several sexually-themed notes Lavagnino had written to the girl.
In addition to numerous pornographic DVDs and letters, Lavagnino had in his home a 42-page “Introduction and Beginners’ Guide to Survival in Preteen Erotica,” which police said detailed both how to participate in an Internet news group dealing with questionable material, as well as how to evade police detection.
Lavagnino admitted to using his computer to access pornographic material, touching the girl inappropriately and asking her to partially undress, according to police.
Both Lavagnino’s computer and several DVDs were sent to the San Jose Police Department High-Tech Investigation Division to determine whether they contained pornographic content.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s department received the results of the investigation late Tuesday, and were still reviewing them by press time. However, Detective Bryan Penney said that he believed pornographic material was found on the computer that could result in additional charges against Lavagnino, not directly related to his 11-year-old victim.
Currently, Lavagnino is at his home in San Juan, but police have secured a protective order for the victim, who lives near Lavagnino’s home.
Lavagnino will appear before San Benito County Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders Tuesday.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com
