Thread: CA: All charges against Mountain View soccer coach Pedro Car

All charges against Mountain View soccer coach Pedro Carbajal dismissed

By Diana Samuels


Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: 02/24/2011 06:31:52 AM PST
Updated: 02/24/2011 06:38:15 AM PST


Nearly two years after being arrested on suspicion of child molestation, all criminal charges were dropped Wednesday against Mountain View soccer coach Pedro Carbajal.

However, Carbajal wasn't allowed to walk out of the courtroom a free man because of a federal inquiry into his immigration status.

Three sisters who are related to Carbajal had accused the 35-year-old Mountain View resident of raping or molesting them at various times between the mid-'90s and 2007. He has been in jail since his arrest Feb. 27, 2009, after the youngest sister told a probation officer about the alleged abuse.

After a month-long trial, a jury last week found Carbajal not guilty on three of the six counts he was facing, including two charges of aggravated sexual assault on a child and one count of lewd or lascivious acts on a child. On the remaining three counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child, the jury could not come to a decision and Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Griffin Bonini declared a mistrial.

At a brief court appearance Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Dan Fehderau announced he would not pursue a new trial on the remaining three charges, and they were all dismissed.

"Although I think the charges were correctly brought and tried, given the judgment against us on three of the counts, and given (the jury's) widely conflicting views on the remaining three counts -- and we have no new evidence to present -- I think it is reasonably unlikely we would prevail with a new and second jury," Fehderau said.

Fehderau said he had spoken with the sisters, and while they are disappointed in the outcome of the case, they want to move on.

Wearing a brown jail uniform instead of the white dress shirt and tie he donned during the trial, Carbajal smiled widely as the charges were dismissed. A dozen of his family members and friends in the courtroom shared his grin.

Carbajal, who has five children, worked as a chef and volunteered regularly before his arrest. He also ran a Mountain View Police Activities League-sponsored soccer league for at-risk youths.

Ellen Wheeler, Carbajal's friend and a Mountain View Whisman School District trustee, said she was "elated" by the decision Wednesday.

But the celebration was muted because of a hold the Department of Homeland Security has placed on Carbajal's release.

Deputy Public Defender Darby Williams said it is "incredibly common" for Homeland Security to examine a non-citizen's immigration status after the person has been charged with a felony, and the move is "more routine than anything else."

Carbajal testified during the trial that he came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1993. Williams said it was her understanding that Carbajal is a lawful permanent U.S. resident. He was in the process of becoming a citizen when he was arrested, according to Wheeler.

A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said she could not discuss Carbajal's immigration status because of privacy rules.

It is unclear how long it will take to resolve the immigration concerns, but Williams said she plans to keep helping Carbajal and his family.

"It's just a matter of getting the right hand and the left hand to talk to each other," she said.

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Mountain View soccer coach accused of child molestation released from custody

By Diana Samuels


Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: 02/25/2011 11:09:11 PM PST
Updated: 02/26/2011 12:39:04 AM PST


Two days shy of spending two years behind bars, Mountain View resident Pedro Carbajal returned to his family a free man Friday.

Carbajal was arrested Feb. 27, 2009, on suspicion of sexually abusing three female relatives. Last week, a jury found him not guilty on three of the six charges brought against him. A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge declared a mistrial on the remaining charges, and the district attorney's office announced Wednesday it was dropping the case.

But his release was delayed when the Department of Homeland Security placed him on an immigration hold.

Carbajal, who is from Mexico, said in a phone interview with The Daily News that the hold was lifted and he was released Friday morning. He said he has been in the United States on a work permit, which expired after his arrest, and he has had an application for permanent residency pending since 1993.

He will have to meet with immigration officials in April, but he is "confident" any issues will be resolved.

"When they reviewed my case, they said that since I was acquitted ... there's nothing that's going to damage my record or anything," Carbajal said.

During a monthlong trial, Carbajal's three young relatives accused him of sexually abusing them at various times between the mid-1990s and 2007, when they were about 7 to 9 years old. Testifying in his own defense, Carbajal denied the allegations.

Jurors said that while they felt the girls had been traumatized, it wasn't clear what had happened and there wasn't enough evidence to convict Carbajal.

The 35-year-old father of five, known previously for his work coaching a soccer league for at-risk youths, said Friday he felt "excellent" and was happy to be back with his family. One of the first things Carbajal did after his release from jail was enjoy a meal of pork with chile verde and beans, cooked by his mother-in-law.

"It's wonderful," he said. "Right now I'm getting ready to go to the park. I just want to go take a long walk."

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