Court testimony details sex abuse charges against former Hanna Boys Center clinical director
A young man who lived at the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma testified Thursday that he feared he would be forced from the program for at-risk youth if he did not give in to the sexual advances of a staff counselor, and that those encounters - starting with pornography shared by the counselor and masturbation - became routine and lasted over a period of at least five years.
The 24-year-old witness, who was 13 when he came to the Hanna Boys Center, was the second person to take the stand Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court against Kevin Thorpe, 40, of Rohnert Park, who is charged with 38 counts of child sexual abuse between 2006 and June of last year, when he was arrested. By that time, he had been promoted to the job of clinical director at the residential center, which is affiliated with the Santa Rosa Diocese of the Catholic Church and dates back more than 70 years in Sonoma Valley.
At least two of the four males in the criminal case who say they were abused by Thorpe were in his care at Hanna.
The preliminary hearing that began Thursday will determine if there is sufficient evidence in the case against Thorpe for it to go to trial. The hearing featured testimony from two of the males whom prosecutors say Thorpe sexually abused, in part by taking advantage of his role as a trusted member of the Hanna Boys Center staff.
The 24-year-old witness said his encounters with Thorpe began soon after he arrived as a teenager. He said Thorpe invited him to look at pornography and masturbate in Thorpe’s office and at his home. He said he didn’t want to say no because it might mean he’d be sent back to his aunt’s home, which he’d gone to Sonoma to escape.
The witness, known in court as John Doe 1, said Thorpe reinforced the boy’s silence, frequently noting that if anyone found out about their relationship he would likely be “kicked out” and lose his scholarship, according to testimony. He felt “like I couldn’t tell anybody, and even if I did, nobody would believe me,” he said from the stand. “It made me feel scared, too, like I didn’t have a choice.”
Thorpe, a married father of two girls and a 14-year Hanna Boys Center employee before he was fired last year, has pleaded not guilty. Thorpe’s defense attorney, Joe Stogner of Santa Rosa, did not dispute that the encounters with Thorpe described in court took place. Instead, he sought to suggest that they were not forced.
The preliminary hearing was scheduled to continue today, when Judge Dana Simonds was expected to decide whether the case will proceed to trial.
The center earlier this year avoided a potential state shutdown that stemmed from the scandal, which includes a whistleblower case brought by Thorpe’s predecessor at Hanna. The three-year probation deal it accepted called for increased oversight and training requirements to enhance personal safety and security for the 100 or so at-risk boys enrolled at the residential center. It included an admission that the allegations against Thorpe were serious enough to warrant a disciplinary case against the program, a concession that does not extend to criminal court.
The state findings referenced seven victims of Thorpe at Hanna, which investigators faulted for failing to protect the personal rights of the children and providing inadequate supervision.
Thursday’s testimony featured moments of wrenching emotion and graphic descriptions of sexual encounters that prosecutors say Thorpe initiated or enabled with his victims.
John Doe 1 briefly broke down as he began to testify about his experience. He was called to the stand after an initial witness, John Doe 4, was overcome when prompted by Deputy District Attorney Andrew Lukas to describe his experience meeting Thorpe in 2016. The 17-year-old’s expression darkened, and he was trembling and weeping within moments. Unable to continue, he was excused from the stand and did not return.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Piccinini picked up his story. He testified about an alleged relationship that developed between Thorpe and the boy, who was not a Hanna resident, after Thorpe suggested they spend more time together. It involved smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol with some regularity, at least twice to the point of blacking out, Piccinini testified.
Piccinini said the teenager told investigators that during the eight months or so before Thorpe’s arrest, the two took numerous daytrips, jumped nude on the trampoline in Thorpe’s back yard, and masturbated together on the beach.
The teen also described taking a shower with Thorpe and his two daughters at their home, though he initially withheld information about the girls’ involvement, Piccinini said.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: