Former SLO Cal Fire employee cannot withdraw guilty plea, must register as sex offender
The former Cal Fire captain who is accused of groping a coworker cannot withdraw his guilty plea to sexual battery, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Former Cal Fire Capt. 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.
In a September court hearing that was originally scheduled to be his sentencing, Thomas claimed he did not know that his no-contest plea, which functions the same as a guilty plea without admitting direct fault, would require him to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Michael Frye ruled in favor of Thomas at the time, and a trial date was set. But later, the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office submitted a motion to reconsider the decision, and that ruling was vacated.
Thomas’ attorney, Kevin Gres, then had to file a written motion to withdraw his client’s plea.
According to a Dec. 1 motion, Gres claims that there was no mention of adding his name to the sex offender registry at the time Thomas entered his plea. He said the judge instructed both parties in the case to discuss in their sentencing briefs whether the registration would be mandatory or discretionary.
The motion said Thomas was notified about the sex offender registry requirement about a month after his plea.
The judge, “realizing that Mr. Thomas was possibly just informed of that,” allowed defense counsel time to inquire whether a plea withdrawal was warranted.
The motion says the court backtracked its September ruling and required to have a hearing on withdrawing the plea “based solely on procedural defects and not the merits.”
San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Bianca Aguayo told Frye during the September hearing that Thomas had been advised on multiple occasions about the sex offender registration requirement, both before and after he entered his plea. Aguayo 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.”
According to the District Attorney’s written response, Thomas did not have good cause to withdraw his plea and reiterated that Thomas had been advised about the sex offender registration.
Aguayo called multiple attorneys, including Thomas’ past and present lawyers, as witnesses to the motion. The defense called attorneys and Thomas as well.
Frye ultimately agreed with Aguayo and denied Thomas’ motion to withdraw his plea after hearing arguments from both sides.
Thomas is now scheduled to be sentenced on June 5 and will have his name included on California’s sex offender registry for 10 years.
His sentencing has been delayed by a month five separate times prior to Wednesday’s hearing.
Victim settled $1.75 million case with Cal Fire
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 for an undisclosed amount on Aug. 31 and now has a roof over her head for the first time in a year.
