A Case With Extra Sting, and That’s Before Verdict

It’s the crime no one forgives. It’s the crime that carries the ultimate scarlet letter, from which everyone runs and hides. It’s the crime for which neighbors usually want the prosecutors to throw the book at the accused.

So, why is it that Jerome Wilhoit’s friends didn’t run from him after he was charged with molesting three young girls?

Why aren’t they hiding?

Why are they so sure they know more than the police and prosecutors?

Wilhoit is a 36-year-old Santa Ana schoolteacher charged with five counts of molestation that allegedly involved the three girls, ages 7 and 9.

Child molestation is so inimical to decent society that merely being charged with it is often enough to make someone a pariah in his own neighborhood. Wilhoit’s next-door neighbors, in contrast, offered their house as collateral for his bail.

Since his arrest nearly four weeks ago, Wilhoit’s claims of innocence have been bolstered by dozens of friends. The judge handling the case reportedly has received 150 letters supporting Wilhoit.

The widespread support, one friend says, isn’t merely a case of them standing beside someone in his hour of need. It’s a case of their certainty that the allegations can’t be true.

“The reason everyone is flocking to his side instead of running is that [Wilhoit’s] arms reach out to everyone, not just a few and not just to his family,” friend Jannine Guerrero says. She lives in Santa Ana and served as the “host” parent 10 years ago for the Brazilian exchange student who later became Wilhoit’s wife. Guerrero says she’s known Wilhoit for most of those 10 years.

“Can I give you a for-instance?” she asks. “Everyone knows about the man putting up his property next door. The reason is that the wife had a father who was dying--he was in his last days--and Jerry would go play guitar and sing for this man, sing gospel hymns, to soothe his pain. That’s why people love him and are rallying around this man.”

That next-door neighbor is Adele Murrietta. She confirmed the story about her father, who died a month ago. She and her husband have known the Wilhoits for seven years, she says, and often have had them in their home. While she doesn’t claim to know the exact nature of the charges against Wilhoit, Adele Murrietta is convinced he’s innocent.

Like many of Wilhoit’s friends have said, Murrietta believes the alleged improper touching was much more benign. “It’s a real shame these days that a teacher at the elementary school level can’t share the love they have for the children,” Murrietta says. “That’s why they’re in that profession.”

Neither Wilhoit’s attorney nor prosecutor Roseanne Froeberg returned my phone calls Friday afternoon. Santa Ana police have said previously that they believe the case is solid.

I’m going to assume the district attorney’s office couldn’t be so callous as to bring charges this explosive without believing them to be true. If the case turns out to be flimsy and unsupportable, whatever grief rains down on the district attorney’s office will be appropriate.

If the charges prove true, however, Wilhoit’s friends will be shocked. “There’s so much certainty [in his innocence] because they know him,” Guerrero says. “They have seen how he loves his children and loves their children--and in front of them, not behind their backs. He displays his love publicly to everyone.”

Guerrero isn’t worried about soul-searching if Wilhoit is proved guilty. What worries her more, she says, is the impact on Wilhoit’s career even when, as she is certain, he is proved innocent.

“I think, yeah, you could pick up and go on,” she says, “but I don’t think you can go on with the same innocence you had before. I don’t think you can still hug a child the same way; you can’t comfort them in sorrow in the same way. And if he were able to have his job back, no, I don’t think it would be the same. I don’t think you can pick up and go back to where you were.”

While Wilhoit’s reputation and teaching career hang in the balance, the rest of us face two unpleasant scenarios. Either a respected teacher has violated young children’s trust or he has been unfairly maligned with charges that shouldn’t have been brought.

For Guerrero, only one possibility exists.

“I don’t understand how it got this far,” she says. “One reporter said to me, ‘Do you believe the allegations are true? Can you stand there with conviction and say you trust and understand this man? Do you know in your heart he is innocent? Can you say that?’

“I say, ‘Of course, I can. I know this man. He is not this kind of man.’ ”

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com