A Gilroy magazine founder facing six counts of sex crimes
stemming from the alleged assaults of a 16-year-old girl and a
woman older than 50 will stand trial later this month.
A Gilroy magazine founder facing six counts of sex crimes stemming from the alleged assaults of a 16-year-old girl and a woman older than 50 will stand trial later this month.
Sunny Pappu Kavil, 43, is charged with child molestation, assault and sexual battery. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was released on $100,000 bail. At his preliminary examination, a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to warrant a jury trial.
Attorneys will appear in court Thursday for a calendar call, “to see it everyone is prepared to go to trial,” Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Glenn Pesenhofer said.
The trial will begin with jury selection, 8:30 a.m. Sept. 15, at the Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas, Pesenhofer said. He said he didn’t know how long the trial would last.
On May 19, 2007, a then-16-year-old girl was working at Sunnyline Clothing, a store owned by Kavil in the city of Pacific Grove, near Monterey, according to court documents. Though the girl had only been working in the store two days, she had on multiple occasions felt uncomfortable with Kavil, Pacific Grove police officer Angelo DeMarco testified in a preliminary hearing held Nov. 5, 2007.
“Mr. Kavil, in the short time that she worked there, had given her free underwear, and told her to go ahead and take it home, that she didn’t have to pay for it,” he said. “When she returned to work, Mr. Kavil asked her how the underwear looked or felt on her.’
According to police, Kavil and the girl were alone in the store about 6 p.m. May 19, 2007, unloading a van full of clothing.
About an hour after unloading the van, Kavil told the girl he needed to show her how to turn off the lights using the electrical breaker box, police said. She went into a back room, went up to the breaker box and Kavil stood behind her.
He then grabbed her across the chest and waist, pressing his hips up against her and reaching up under her sweatshirt and shirt, police said. Despite her pleading for him to stop, he made several remarks about his arousal and, during the course of the incident, he turned off the lights, police said. The girl said she heard him unzipping his pants, police added.
The girl managed to get out of Kavil’s grasp, grab her purse and run out of the store and the building, police said. She then called her mom, who called police and picked up the sobbing girl from a nearby parking lot.
Kavil was arrested three days later by Pacific Grove police.
The defense called into question the verity of the girl’s accusations by pointing to her past accusations of sexual assault. In March, Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan approved a discovery motion from the defense granting access to prior accusations of sexual assault filed by the girl.
According to the motion filed by defense attorney Eugene Martinez, the girl filed sexual assault reports in Kern County after supposedly being raped three to four times by her brother and stepbrother. She also filed a sexual assault report with the Salinas Police Department that was investigated. However, no one was arrested and the case was closed, according to the motion.
In addition, the girl quit her job at Longs Drugs previous to being hired at Sunnyline Clothing because she had been harassed and touched inappropriately by male co-workers, the motion continued.
During the interviews, police said the girl remarked, “I don’t know how I keep getting these problems.”
Pesenhofer refused to comment on whether or not the girl’s testimony would be used during the trial.
Kavil has four young children and a wife of 13 years, according to court documents. His family is active in the Gilroy chapter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since at least 2000, according to the court file.
“I have interviewed (Kavil) for his honesty, keeping the Ten Commandments and I can swear that he can be trusted for what he says,” wrote Ben Griffin, who was Kavil’s bishop for three years, in a character reference. “He honors his marriage covenants to his wife and children. Sunny Kavil is a good man.”
Kavil came to the fore in Gilroy recently when he launched the Gavilan Post, a glossy monthly magazine, earlier this year. Kavil’s first issue featured Mayor Al Pinheiro on the cover.
“I was hoping it was going to be a very positive thing for Gilroy to have another magazine,” Pinheiro said. The charges against Kavil “just puts a cloud over it.”
