New trial underway in Petaluma molest case

A second trial has begun for a Petaluma massage therapist who was previously found guilty of molesting a neighbor’s daughter over a five-year period and later molesting her friend.

John C. Sparrow, 57, faces up to two decades in prison if convicted of child-sex offenses alleged to have occurred from 2005 to 2011.

A jury in 2013 convicted him on all counts, but a judge last year granted a new trial on grounds of ineffective assistance from his first lawyer, Wallace Coppock.

With a new lawyer and new jury, Sparrow went back into the courtroom this week to face his accusers, now 18 and 20 years old.

The elder woman testified Thursday that Sparrow, a close family friend, began molesting her when she was 11. It continued until she was 16, when Sparrow turned to her friend, then 14, she said.

Sparrow had been providing the girls with drugs, the woman testified. The girls reported him after all three took psilocybin mushrooms in a wooded area west of Petaluma, she said.

In his opening statement, Sparrow’s new lawyer, Steve Gallenson, denied that Sparrow molested either girl. Gallenson pointed to what he said were inconsistent statements to police.

Sparrow is expected to testify later in the trial before Judge Rene Chouteau.