http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gamond-67116-girl-attack.html
Martial arts coach gets 30 years in prison for sex assault
He drove Lakewood girl, 14, to Seal Beach and attacked her.
By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH / City News Service
Published: July 29, 2009 Updated: Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.
BELLFLOWER — A martial arts coach was sentenced today to 30 years in state prison for confronting a 14-year-old girl in Lakewood and driving her to Seal Beach, where he sexually assaulted her.
In a statement read by her sister, the victim said she had been "waiting anxiously for this day" and that Jonathan Allen Gamond, 32, should be in prison "his whole life."
"I hope he rots in prison," the teen said.
"Why didn't you stop when I begged you to and why did you do it?" she said in the statement, directly addressing her assailant.
Gamond — who pleaded no contest June 24 to four sex counts — confronted the victim while she walked with another teenage girl about 8:45 a.m. Jan. 23 in the 12000 block of Gradwell Street in Lakewood.
He drove her to Seal Beach, where he sexually assaulted her, before releasing her several hours later in Cerritos.
The girl's parents, who spoke through a Spanish interpreter, said their family has been devastated by the attack.
"She's still a little girl," the teen's mother tearfully said through the interpreter. She said the attack has "destroyed our daughter."
"She's doing poorly in school. This has left us in very bad shape," the mother said, adding that she hopes "he's never let go" to harm anyone else.
The girl's father, also speaking through a Spanish interpreter, said, "That man has destroyed our lives … he's not well. There's something wrong with him."
One of Gamond's attorneys, George F. Bird Jr., told Bellflower Superior Court Judge Leland H. Tipton that Gamond "did take responsibility for his actions by entering an early plea" that ensured the victim and her friend did not have to testify at a preliminary hearing and trial.
"He's expressed remorse for his actions. … Nothing he says today can take back the events of 175 days ago," the defense attorney said.
Family members were in court in support of Gamond and submitted letters on his behalf, according to Bird.
Another of Gamond's attorneys, Andrew M. Stein, said last month that he had received hundreds of letters from Gamond's students, neighbors and others writing on the coach's behalf.
Stein disputed a contention by law enforcement that Gamond had impersonated a police officer during the attack, saying that his client never said he was a sheriff's deputy or police officer.
But Deputy District Attorney Diana Martinez and Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Joseph Tessari said Gamond initially identified himself as a police officer.
"Both girls said he identified himself as a policeman. That's why they stopped. He said they were out after curfew," the detective said outside court.
At a news conference identifying Gamond as the assailant, Sheriff Lee Baca said, "What kind of person is this? Obviously, he wasn't a peace officer."
"The fact that he used that ruse to assert his authority in a sexual and combative way to young girls tells me that he is a predator of the worst type," Baca said.
Gamond, who was arrested by sheriff's deputies from the Lakewood station 13 days after the attack, has remained jailed since then on $5 million bail.
Martial arts coach gets 30 years in prison for sex assault
He drove Lakewood girl, 14, to Seal Beach and attacked her.
By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH / City News Service
Published: July 29, 2009 Updated: Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.
BELLFLOWER — A martial arts coach was sentenced today to 30 years in state prison for confronting a 14-year-old girl in Lakewood and driving her to Seal Beach, where he sexually assaulted her.
In a statement read by her sister, the victim said she had been "waiting anxiously for this day" and that Jonathan Allen Gamond, 32, should be in prison "his whole life."
"I hope he rots in prison," the teen said.
"Why didn't you stop when I begged you to and why did you do it?" she said in the statement, directly addressing her assailant.
Gamond — who pleaded no contest June 24 to four sex counts — confronted the victim while she walked with another teenage girl about 8:45 a.m. Jan. 23 in the 12000 block of Gradwell Street in Lakewood.
He drove her to Seal Beach, where he sexually assaulted her, before releasing her several hours later in Cerritos.
The girl's parents, who spoke through a Spanish interpreter, said their family has been devastated by the attack.
"She's still a little girl," the teen's mother tearfully said through the interpreter. She said the attack has "destroyed our daughter."
"She's doing poorly in school. This has left us in very bad shape," the mother said, adding that she hopes "he's never let go" to harm anyone else.
The girl's father, also speaking through a Spanish interpreter, said, "That man has destroyed our lives … he's not well. There's something wrong with him."
One of Gamond's attorneys, George F. Bird Jr., told Bellflower Superior Court Judge Leland H. Tipton that Gamond "did take responsibility for his actions by entering an early plea" that ensured the victim and her friend did not have to testify at a preliminary hearing and trial.
"He's expressed remorse for his actions. … Nothing he says today can take back the events of 175 days ago," the defense attorney said.
Family members were in court in support of Gamond and submitted letters on his behalf, according to Bird.
Another of Gamond's attorneys, Andrew M. Stein, said last month that he had received hundreds of letters from Gamond's students, neighbors and others writing on the coach's behalf.
Stein disputed a contention by law enforcement that Gamond had impersonated a police officer during the attack, saying that his client never said he was a sheriff's deputy or police officer.
But Deputy District Attorney Diana Martinez and Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Joseph Tessari said Gamond initially identified himself as a police officer.
"Both girls said he identified himself as a policeman. That's why they stopped. He said they were out after curfew," the detective said outside court.
At a news conference identifying Gamond as the assailant, Sheriff Lee Baca said, "What kind of person is this? Obviously, he wasn't a peace officer."
"The fact that he used that ruse to assert his authority in a sexual and combative way to young girls tells me that he is a predator of the worst type," Baca said.
Gamond, who was arrested by sheriff's deputies from the Lakewood station 13 days after the attack, has remained jailed since then on $5 million bail.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/california/ci_12938573
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Lakewood man sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old
By Tracy Manzer, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/29/2009 12:34:45 PM PDT | Updated: 5 years ago
BELLFLOWER - A 32-year-old Lakewood man was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Wednesday for attacking two 14-year-old girls earlier this year while posing as a police officer, and repeatedly sexually assaulting one of the victims.
Jonathan Allen Gamond pleaded guilty to three felony counts of forced oral copulation and one felony count of forced penetration with a foreign object last month.
During Wednesday's sentencing, which was attended by the victims and their families as well as Gamond's family, the convicted rapist kept his head slightly bowed and appeared upset as relatives of the victim described for the court the brutal crimes and the fall-out they have felt since.
Both victims wrote letters to the court addressing their attacker. They described how the crimes have robbed them of their trust of people, how they were ridiculed by classmates at school and how life as they knew it seemed to be destroyed.
"What you did ... I thought that was the worst thing ever," the sister of one victim said, reading one of the letters. "And it wasn't. The worst thing was facing reality."
Both girls said their grades have suffered and they are tormented by nightmares stemming from the attack.
"He raped my daughter, my baby, she's still a little girl," the mother of one victim implored as she wiped tears from her face. "We can't sleep, we can't eat. This has destroyed out life forever, I can't go on!"
The girls were attacked while walking in the 12000 block of Gradwell Street at 8:45 p.m. Jan 23.
Gamond shined a flashlight at the the victims and identified himself as a police officer as he got out of a white, four-door sport utility vehicle with tinted rear windows. When one victim refused to get in the SUV and asked for identification, Gamond punched her in the stomach and knocked her to the ground.
He then dragged the other girl into the vehicle before driving away with her. They drove around for a while before he eventually stopped in Seal Beach, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim, investigators said.
The attack was so brutal and lasted so long that the victim suffered ruptured blood vessels at the back of her throat and other physical injuries, said Sgt. Joseph Tessani of the Special Victims Unit.
"He said he would have taken both girls if he could have," Tessani said.
While Gamond pleaded to four counts, the prosecutor said the three assaults - two of which were carried out on the beach and one in the vehicle - went far beyond the counts of forced oral copulation and penetration.
Deputy District Attorney Diana Martinez, who supervises the special victim's unit for the DA's Office, said she reviewed the plea deal with the victims and their families to make sure it was OK with them. While she maintained the convicted felon did much more, she noted the plea spares the girls the trauma of testifying in court.
"In order for the girls to forgo further trauma ... I think 30 years is a significant amount of time," Martinez said after the sentencing.
With the 30 year sentence imposed by Bellflower Superior Court Judge Leland Tipton, Gamond will have to serve 85 percent of his term before he can even be found eligible for parole, Martinez said.
Even after he reaches the end of his 30 year term, a review at the end of his sentence could find him unfit for release and have him committed to a secure facility for many more years, she said.
Gamond appeared in a blue Los Angeles County Jail issued shirt and pants and was kept handcuffed and shackled throughout the proceedings.
His head appeared freshly shaved and he held a large book in one hand.
Although he did not address the court, one of his defense attorneys reiterated his client's earlier apology to the victims and their families and noted that his client had taken responsibility for his crimes and chose to plead guilty to ease some of the burden on his victims as well as his family, which included his wife, mother, grandmother and siblings.
"He has expressed remorse and he has apologized," George F. Bird Jr. told the court. "There is nothing he can say today that can take back the events from 175 days ago."
[email protected], 562-499-1261.
(link not active, page not found on original server: archive of article shown here below)
Lakewood man sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old
By Tracy Manzer, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/29/2009 12:34:45 PM PDT | Updated: 5 years ago
BELLFLOWER - A 32-year-old Lakewood man was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Wednesday for attacking two 14-year-old girls earlier this year while posing as a police officer, and repeatedly sexually assaulting one of the victims.
Jonathan Allen Gamond pleaded guilty to three felony counts of forced oral copulation and one felony count of forced penetration with a foreign object last month.
During Wednesday's sentencing, which was attended by the victims and their families as well as Gamond's family, the convicted rapist kept his head slightly bowed and appeared upset as relatives of the victim described for the court the brutal crimes and the fall-out they have felt since.
Both victims wrote letters to the court addressing their attacker. They described how the crimes have robbed them of their trust of people, how they were ridiculed by classmates at school and how life as they knew it seemed to be destroyed.
"What you did ... I thought that was the worst thing ever," the sister of one victim said, reading one of the letters. "And it wasn't. The worst thing was facing reality."
Both girls said their grades have suffered and they are tormented by nightmares stemming from the attack.
"He raped my daughter, my baby, she's still a little girl," the mother of one victim implored as she wiped tears from her face. "We can't sleep, we can't eat. This has destroyed out life forever, I can't go on!"
The girls were attacked while walking in the 12000 block of Gradwell Street at 8:45 p.m. Jan 23.
Gamond shined a flashlight at the the victims and identified himself as a police officer as he got out of a white, four-door sport utility vehicle with tinted rear windows. When one victim refused to get in the SUV and asked for identification, Gamond punched her in the stomach and knocked her to the ground.
He then dragged the other girl into the vehicle before driving away with her. They drove around for a while before he eventually stopped in Seal Beach, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim, investigators said.
The attack was so brutal and lasted so long that the victim suffered ruptured blood vessels at the back of her throat and other physical injuries, said Sgt. Joseph Tessani of the Special Victims Unit.
"He said he would have taken both girls if he could have," Tessani said.
While Gamond pleaded to four counts, the prosecutor said the three assaults - two of which were carried out on the beach and one in the vehicle - went far beyond the counts of forced oral copulation and penetration.
Deputy District Attorney Diana Martinez, who supervises the special victim's unit for the DA's Office, said she reviewed the plea deal with the victims and their families to make sure it was OK with them. While she maintained the convicted felon did much more, she noted the plea spares the girls the trauma of testifying in court.
"In order for the girls to forgo further trauma ... I think 30 years is a significant amount of time," Martinez said after the sentencing.
With the 30 year sentence imposed by Bellflower Superior Court Judge Leland Tipton, Gamond will have to serve 85 percent of his term before he can even be found eligible for parole, Martinez said.
Even after he reaches the end of his 30 year term, a review at the end of his sentence could find him unfit for release and have him committed to a secure facility for many more years, she said.
Gamond appeared in a blue Los Angeles County Jail issued shirt and pants and was kept handcuffed and shackled throughout the proceedings.
His head appeared freshly shaved and he held a large book in one hand.
Although he did not address the court, one of his defense attorneys reiterated his client's earlier apology to the victims and their families and noted that his client had taken responsibility for his crimes and chose to plead guilty to ease some of the burden on his victims as well as his family, which included his wife, mother, grandmother and siblings.
"He has expressed remorse and he has apologized," George F. Bird Jr. told the court. "There is nothing he can say today that can take back the events from 175 days ago."
[email protected], 562-499-1261.