Three Sentenced for Providing Sex on a Golf Course

Riverside County sheriff’s investigators knew something was fishy when some golfers showed up for a golf tournament in Norco without their clubs.

When deputies raided the Hidden Valley Golf Club during the June 14, 2002, tournament, they found more than a dozen prostitutes and strippers providing sex and entertainment to golfers in tents set up near several tees.

On Thursday, a woman and two golf course managers who organized the tournament were sentenced to 125 days of house arrest and three years’ probation for felony conspiracy to corrupt public morals.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian F. “Rick” Thierbach chastised the three for the “immoral and illegal actions,” telling them that the results of Tuesday’s presidential election showed that many in the community place a high value on morality.

Hidden Valley Golf Club general manager Jason Wood, 38, his former assistant Darren James Bollinger, 30, and Sandy Juarez, 39, had organized two tournaments that drew an estimated 160 golfers. Along with a day of golf, Juarez provided prostitutes and strippers inside tents along the course.

The strippers and prostitutes, including one 16-year-old girl, advertised their services and prices on boards posted outside the tents, Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Arthur Chang said.

“Some were drink girls; others were pure strippers who didn’t let guys touch them, and others were there to have full-on sex,” Chang said.

Juarez, of Lancaster, lured the golfers from various strip clubs, charging each $200 to play. Wood and Bollinger brought in an estimated $5,110 to $5,810 to the club by allowing the so-called “girlie” tournament to take place on May 23 and June 14, 2002.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies, dressed in camouflage and equipped with binoculars, were in the surrounding hills monitoring the June 14 tournament. Deputies raided the event, detaining 90 golfers, 17 strippers and prostitutes and several golf course employees. Two male golfers were convicted of engaging in prostitution, and Angie Peraza, the mother of the 16-year-old prostitute, faces charges of prostitution and child endangerment.

Wood, Bollinger and Juarez initially were charged with eight counts of felony pimping and pandering and could have been sentenced to three years in prison. Juarez struck a plea bargain in February 2003, agreeing to testify about Wood and Bollinger’s knowledge that the sexual acts were being provided at the tournament.

“Women degrading themselves ... lewd sexual activity for money, golfers without golf clubs; these tournaments involved both largely illegal and highly antisocial conduct, all purely for profit,” Chang wrote in his sentencing memorandum.

Outside of court, Chang said he had heard of similar “girlie” tournaments at other Southern California courses.

“We’d like to send the message [that] this type of activity is illegal, immoral and something that will be prosecuted,” Chang said.

Wood and Bollinger, both of Temecula, and Juarez were convicted of felony conspiracy to corrupt public morals and, along with the house arrest and probation, were each ordered to pay $10,000 to a nonprofit charity of the district attorney’s choosing and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

“[Wood and Bollinger] are both happy this is all over now; they are happy to look forward to the future,” said Steve Harmon, Bollinger’s attorney. “This has been quite an ordeal for both of them.”