Public Defenders Say Judge in Sentencing Furor Justified

Members of the Orange County public defender’s office have risen to the defense of a judge who reduced charges against a father accused of burning his 5-year-old son’s hand over a gas flame.

Several attorneys said Orange County Superior Court Judge James O. Perez has been unfairly criticized for reducing the charges against the father from a felony that could have brought six years in prison to a misdemeanor resulting in no jail time and a $100 fine.

The father, a Guatemalan immigrant, said he burned his son’s hand after discovering that the boy stole a pack of gum. The father said his mother had disciplined him the same way during his childhood in Guatemala.

Over the stern objections of a prosecutor, Perez decided to reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor. He argued that “customs and habits” reflecting cultural differences played a role in his decision, along with the fact that the father was making an earnest effort to discipline his son.

Perez was criticized for his decision by the prosecutor as well as child abuse experts. But members of the public defender’s office said this week that Perez made the proper decision.

“Clearly, this is a case where the judge thought the father was not sadistic but someone who disciplined a child in a way we all thought was inappropriate,” said Assistant Public Defender Denise Gragg.

The case has provided fodder for radio talk show hosts in recent days, prompting public defenders to speak out in favor of the judge’s decision. Deputy Public Defender Jamalyn Ollinger said the important issue is that the father is remorseful and cooperating with social workers, who suggested that he attend parenting classes. He will also receive counseling as part of probation, Ollinger said.

“He has a social worker and probation officer that are monitoring him.... It’s not like he gets a $100 fine and he’s gone,” the attorney said. “This will ensure he never harms another child. I personally am certain he will never reoffend. He really does understand his behavior was wrong.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Schatzle, the prosecutor in the case, said that once the judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor she requested a probation sentence because she was certain he would not impose jail time. “That case resolved exactly how the judge intended,” she said.

Schatzle had argued against reducing the charge to a misdemeanor, asking the judge, “At what point does a burning of a child’s hand become a felony?”

Wellington Soto, 36, was arrested in January after he admitted to Anaheim police that he burned his son’s hand on a gas stove after he caught him shoplifting.

Perez said he believed the father had good intentions, teaching his child a lesson, but went about it the wrong way.

“We find ourselves in the crosscurrent of customs and habits,” the judge said during the April 23 sentencing hearing in Fullerton.

The decision outraged child abuse prevention advocates, who contended that courts are often more lenient on violence committed against family members than violence against strangers.

“By the judge making that determination, he really sided with the father and left this child even more of a victim,” said Chris Monaco, director of the Childhelp USA national child abuse hotline. “So, what has this child learned? ‘My dad can do this to me and get away with it.’”