SAN MARTIN
– Former television journalist Kevin Bonilla, of Gilroy, pleaded
no contest Friday to charges that he sexually abused a local girl
continually for five years, starting when she was 10.
SAN MARTIN – Former television journalist Kevin Bonilla, of Gilroy, pleaded no contest Friday to charges that he sexually abused a local girl continually for five years, starting when she was 10.
Bonilla agreed to a 32-year prison sentence, of which he must serve 85 percent – more than 27 years – before becoming eligible for parole. The 48-year-old man will turn 75 in prison before he has a chance at getting out.
Bonilla was the fourth Gilroyan to plead to sexually abusing children in less than four months. He was among seven men whom Gilroy police detectives Wes Stanford and Michael Beebe arrested for child sexual abuse
In a similar case, also involving sexual abuse over five years, 43-year-old Gilroy man James Caudill pleaded no contest on July 14 to six counts of performing a lewd act with a child using force, threat or duress. He will be sentenced to 43 years in prison.
“It’s just sad,” Stanford, now a corporal assigned to patrol, said at Bonilla’s court hearing Friday. “These guys are going to do 30, 40 years in prison. How many years will it take the victims to get their lives back? How many years do you put on a childhood?”
Caudill’s female victim, now 16, said he had sex with her about 60 times, starting when she was 6 and ending when she was 11.
Bonilla’s victim, also 16, accused him of sexually abusing her dozens of times, sometimes by force, starting in 1997.
Bonilla’s victim appeared in Superior Court Friday in San Martin, accompanied by Stanford and two counselors: a priest from her church and a female victims’ advocate. The girl was crying when she entered the courtroom, but she sat silently while Bonilla pleaded.
Bonilla previously faced two consecutive life sentences for two charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, but Rubino agreed to lower the allegation to two counts of performing a lewd act with a child through force, threat or duress and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
For criminal court purposes, a “no contest” plea is the same as a “guilty” plea.
Bonilla showed no emotion in court Friday. Stanford said Bonilla showed no remorse during his police interview.
Bonilla’s private defense lawyer, Hector Ramon of San Jose, declined to comment after the hearing.
Bonilla’s brother-in-law was in the court audience Friday but also declined comment.
Professionally, Bonilla got his start with KNTV (NBC) Channel 11 in San Jose and won an Emmy award for a piece on public housing. More recently he worked as a freelancer until an on-the-job injury that allowed him to receive disability checks. He was at one time a board member for the Community Media Access Partnership, which runs local cable-access channels.
“That is just very scary,” said CMAP Executive Director Suzanne St. John-Crane. “We didn’t know much about him except that he was on disability from a back injury. … I saw him maybe once a month at the meetings. He wasn’t on our board very long. He didn’t serve a full term.”
Bonilla was in counseling and taking medication for psychological issues at the time of his arrest, he said at his arraignment.
He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 13.
Both Bonilla and Caudill were arrested using what police call “pretext calls,” in which detectives had the victims call their abusers and ask them about past abuses while detectives tape-recorded the conversations.
Bonilla panicked during a pretext call, according to court documents. On one hand he suggested the girl wasn’t remembering things correctly, but he also at one point declared, “Oh my God, I should be in jail.” Police arrested him as he was packing his sport utility vehicle to flee. They found 39.4 grams of marijuana in his possession.
The front license plate frame on his SUV read, “Happiness is being married to your best friend.” The rear plate frame said, “Tight butts drive me nuts.”
Caudill, during a pretext call, didn’t deny the victim’s allegations or ask her what she was talking about, according to court documents. Instead, he acted afraid and made at least seven references to suicide or dying.
Both Bonilla and Caudill pleaded on the days they were scheduled for preliminary hearings, in which their victims would have testified.
Rubino, who prosecuted both men, said she is always happy to resolve a case before the victim has to go through the traumatic process of testifying in court.
“It’s always a crushing ordeal,” she said.
Rubino is one of three deputy DAs assigned to forcible child sex abuse cases in Santa Clara County.
