In a rare award for psychological damages by the criminal courts, an Alameda man who had phone sex with a 13-year-old Santa Rosa girl and drove to her school to meet her was ordered Friday to pay for emotional suffering caused by his acts.
Arnold Luz, 47, who served 10 months in jail, was ordered by Judge Gary Medvigy to pay $10,000 under a state law that allows the special form of restitution only for child molestation victims.
Medvigy rejected a request for $50,000 but said he would consider awarding additional money for such things as counseling after a hearing in September. The judge also ordered Luz to pay $1,300 for the family's out-of-pocket expenses.
"Each case must be looked at individually," Medvigy said from the bench. "And putting a dollar figure on that is very challenging."
The girl's mother said the amount was fair but expressed hope that she might receive more from Luz to cover therapy for her daughter and other stress-related expenses. She said the ordeal caused her daughter to grind her teeth and rack up dental bills.
None of the money would go to legal fees, her lawyer said.
Luz declined to comment as he left court. He was convicted of sexual molestation and currently is on probation.
Normally, non-economic damages for emotional suffering are awarded by the civil courts. Restitution orders in criminal cases are limited to payments for travel, funeral or other documented expenses.
But a provision in state law allows other financial payments for child-sex victims. Judges may award it to compensate for psychological damage and also as additional punishment.
Prosecutors said it hasn't happened often in Sonoma County - if at all. "In our collective memory here in the office we can't recall" another case, said Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook said.
The law gained traction in 2011 when a state appeals court upheld a $750,000 non-economic damages award to the family of a girl molested by her step-father.
Luz was arrested in August 2012. He and the girl met on a telephone "party line" earlier that summer. She initially described herself as 18 but later told Luz she was 13.
The relationship became sexual tinged after she gave him her cellphone number. They talked frequently over a three-month period, often engaging in mutual masturbation. The two pretended she was a nurse or Catholic school girl, according to preliminary hearing testimony.
On Aug. 10, 2012, she called him crying, saying she was afraid her mother was going to punish her for talking to a boy. Luz agreed to drive to Santa Rosa and meet her in the parking lot of Cook Middle School, which was closed for the summer.
The unemployed man who lives at home with his parents got lost along the way so the girl enlisted a woman at the school to give him directions over her phone, she testified.
The woman became suspicious and called police, who arrived in time to find Luz talking to the girl in his car, police said.
Luz was arrested and later admitted having phone sex with the girl 10-15 times. He also admitted knowing she was 13.
He was charged with 11 felonies but accepted a plea bargain with prosecutors in which he would admit two counts of child molestation and be released from jail with credit for time already served.
The girl's mother initially complained she wasn't informed of the agreement, which left open the possibility of probation. But she said prosecutors redeemed themselves from the "miscommunication" by arguing for prison at Luz's sentencing.
The judge gave him five years' probation, saying Luz never touched the girl and his reasons for driving to Santa Rosa were unclear. Luz maintained he was trying to help her run away from an abusive home life.
Now, the teen-ager and her mother said they are dealing with the emotional aftermath of the incident. The girl is overcome with shame and has difficulty trusting others, said her family's lawyer, Amy Terrible.
Terrible said the girl has permanent scars on her forearms from cutting herself. She rejected a suggestion that her anxiety was caused in part by prosecutors' handling of the case.
"But for his actions this case wouldn't exist at all," Terrible said.
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