SIMI VALLEY : Molestation Case Won’t Be Retried

A Simi Valley man who drew a cartoon character known as “Chester the Molester” will not be retried on child molestation charges, Ventura County officials said Thursday.

Dwaine B. Tinsley, 46, had been convicted in January, 1990, of five counts of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Last February, however, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Ventura ruled that the jury should not have been allowed to see about 3,200 cartoons that Tinsley had drawn. Some of the cartoons featured the “Chester the Molester” character that Tinsley drew for Hustler magazine.

Tinsley served 23 months of a six-year sentence when the conviction was overturned. Ventura County prosecutors refiled the charges and planned to seek a new trial. On Thursday, however, Judge Lawrence Storch dismissed the charges at the request of Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy III.

In a statement to the court, Hardy said Tinsley’s alleged victim did not wish to endure the trauma of another trial. “She has struggled over the years to overcome the personal problems that resulted from her abuse and does not want to have them brought up again,” Hardy wrote.

Tinsley’s attorney, George C. Eskin, said his client was relieved that the matter was over but regretted that he would not have another chance to be exonerated in court.