Ex-soccer coach takes plea deal

A former Santa Rosa youth soccer coach agreed to admit one count of sexual acts with a teenage girl Monday, minutes before the girl was set to testify about the details of the encounter at a preliminary hearing.

With the plea deal, Richard A. Vives, 42, will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss seven other charges against him at a sentencing hearing in January.

Vives pleaded no contest, the legal equivalent of guilty, to one felony count of oral copulation on a 16-year-old girl who was too intoxicated to resist.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, prosecutor Jason Riehl said. Vives, who has no prior criminal record, could receive probation and counseling or jail time.

The single incident occurred in early October at his home when the girl was sleeping over and they were the only ones awake in the house, said Vives' attorney, Kristine Burk. Both Vives and the girl, a friend of one of Vives' daughters, had consumed alcohol, Burk said.

There was no coercion, force or violence involved, and the girl's level of intoxication was questionable, Burk said.

Vives felt it was important to accept responsibility rather than drag his family and the girl through a humiliating public process, Burk said.

"Good people make mistakes," she said. "I don't think he actually is guilty of this specific offense, but this is the kind of thing where you could win the battle and lose the war."

The girl and her family, through Riehl, declined to comment. Riehl declined to comment on what led to the plea agreement.

After Burk and Riehl negotiated the plea, Vives entered the courtroom, appearing resigned to his fate. He signed a several-page plea agreement and rights-waiver form and gave the bailiff his thumbprint.

The girl sat in the rear of the courtroom with her family and a court victim-witness advocate. She didn't speak in court, and Vives didn't appear to see her.

Vives, a married father of three girls, served briefly as Piner High School's junior varsity girls soccer coach. He was also a longtime board member and coach for the Northwest Oaks Youth Soccer Club and the referee coordinator for Santa Rosa United Soccer club.

He hasn't served in those roles since his arrest, Burk said, and likely will be prohibited from holding jobs or volunteer positions involving minors ever again. The girl was a longtime friend of his daughter and not a soccer player.

Vives will be examined by a court-appointed psychiatrist, whose conclusions will be included in a Probation Department recommendation to Judge Elliot Daum on an appropriate punishment.

The charge Vives admitted was one of three that carried a potential eight-year prison term. A sexual-battery charge carried a maximum of four years, and four other counts carried one-year terms.

Burk, Vives' attorney, said probation is an appropriate punishment for the facts of the case.

The charge isn't a strike under the state's three-strikes law, nor is it considered a violent felony that could add time to any future charge.

Burk said the girl had spent the night at Vives' home as many as 75 times previously without incident.

Vives remains free on supervised release pending the sentencing hearing, scheduled for Jan. 23.

You can reach Staff Writer L.A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.