O.C. Judge Faces Review

The California Supreme Court’s chief justice has called for an evaluation of an Orange County judge after he reduced charges against an Anaheim father who burned his 5-year-old son’s hand on a gas flame for stealing gum, officials said Tuesday.

Chief Justice Ronald M. George has called on the presiding judge in Orange County to evaluate Judge James O. Perez in the wake of media reports about the case, said Lynn Holton, press officer for the state Supreme Court.

Perez is one of hundreds of retired judges whom George taps each year to return to work to help with the state court caseload.

Perez, 76, reduced the charges against the father from a felony to a misdemeanor, sentencing him to probation and a $100 fine. If the charges had remained a felony, the father could have faced up to six years in prison.

In his ruling, Perez cited the “customs and habits” of the father, a Guatemalan immigrant who said his mother disciplined him in a similar fashion when he was a child.

The prosecutor in the case and child-abuse prevention advocates criticized the judge’s handling of the matter, saying Perez appeared to protect the abuser rather than the victim.

But the judge’s supporters, including many lawyers in the public defender’s office, contend that the judge has been unfairly criticized and that the sentence showed compassion and restraint toward a father who had no criminal record and was trying to keep his son on the straight and narrow.

George periodically requests evaluations of retired judges in deciding which assignments to give them, Holton said.

Perez, the first Spanish-speaking judge in Orange County and a popular figure in the Fullerton courthouse, is not scheduled to work for the next month. As a retired judge, Perez does not need to run for reelection. He sits in retirement solely at the discretion of the chief justice and earns a prorated daily salary on top of his pension.

Perez could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The case surrounds a New Year’s Day shopping trip during which Wellington Soto caught his son stealing a package of gum. As punishment, the father took the boy home, placed his hand on a gas stove and turned on the flame.

The father did not seek medical attention for his son but instead treated the burns with antibacterial ointment and bandages. A teacher later noticed the wound and school officials called authorities. After his arrest, the father attended counseling at the suggestion of social workers, his lawyer said. He will continue counseling as part of his probation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Schatzle, who prosecuted the case, declined to comment on the chief justice’s decision. She argued during the hearing that the father’s actions warranted a felony charge.

But the judge replied that the conduct was mitigated in part because the father had the good intentions of teaching a lesson.

“I dare say that we’ve done two things: Hopefully, the child has learned a lesson and, hopefully, senior has learned a lesson,” the judge said.

Perez, a veteran of World War II, served as an Orange County judge from 1966 until his retirement 15 years ago.