CA- Sex Offender Who Attacked News10 Crew: "How Would You Act?"

The media had no reason or right to be their except to sensationalize a story. They harassed and provoked this man as they do with celebrities. The almighty dollar will send this man back to prison.

11-13-2008 California:

MODESTO, CA - Less than a day after attacking a News10 crew and other reporters outside his relatives' Oakdale home, convicted sex offender Darren Kawamoto talked to News10 about what set him off.

"They came up under the cover of darkness. They didn't pull up in the driveway or nothing. They just creeped up to the door," Kawamoto said during the interview with News10's Tim Daly inside the Modesto County Jail. "I opened the door. They didn't have no lights on or nothing. They were just all in suits and ties."

BLOG: News10 News Director Stacy Owen Responds to Kawamoto Story Criticism

With the porch light on and camera lights running, Kawamoto attacked News10 reporter Cornell Barnard and photojournalist Damien Espinoza along with another television news crew Tuesday night when they went to his family's house to ask him questions.

"That's my family. That's my niece, my mom, my dad. I'm trying to do everything I can to protect their identity, to protect their reputation," Kawamoto said.

Kawamoto, 44, was convicted in 1991 on two counts of sexual assault with force and was sentenced to 25 years behind bars. He was released on parole in 2004 after 13 years, eight months in prison.

Police held a community meeting in Oakdale Tuesday night to answer questions about Kawamoto, who recently moved back to the Oakdale area after finishing his parole last August.

At one point during the altercation, Kawamoto pulled out what appeared to be a box cutter and yelled threats as he slashed the air and tried to come after the news crews. He was restrained by a relative.

Kawamoto was charged with a felony of making violent threats and remained in custody Wednesday on $50,000 bail. With his two prior convictions, any new felony conviction would be his third strike.

Kawamoto said it was threatening behavior by others in Oakdale since he arrived in town that made him so quick to make threats himself.

"I just want to turn around and snap. Here I am, after three weeks of this, three weeks of threats, crank calls and everything...How would you act?," Kawamoto said.

Kawamoto said he wouldn't react the same way again and would handle a similar situation more calmly. However, though facing a third strike conviction that could mean life imprisonment, Kawamoto said he could live with how he reacted.

"I guess if I end up having to go back to prison, at least, in some small way, in my mind, I can probably convince myself (that) at least it wasn't for something stupid. At least, in my mind, I was protecting my family," Kawamoto said.

Former prosecutor Bill Portanova said under California laws of the early 1990s, it is not unusual that Kawamoto only served 14 years of his 25 year sentence for his sexual attacks.

"Back in 1991, if somebody got sentenced to prison, they only had to serve half of their time," Portanova said.

The rule then allowed inmates to earn one day time off for every day of good behavior. "Prison officials will tell you this is good idea," Portanova said. "It gives them something to work with to try and keep all these convicts in line. So if they behaved themselves, they got out sooner."

Kawamoto received the same benefit in 1983 when convicted of first-degree burglary. With a sentence of seven years, he was released after serving just half the time.

Those sentencing laws have now changed, however. People convicted of felonies in California now must actually serve 85 percent of the sentence handed down. If those laws had been in effect in 1991, Kawamoto would still have several years left to serve in prison.

"For violent sexual offenses or for really violent predatory offenses generally, the longer you warehouse these people, the better," said Portanova. "There's no rehabilitation for violent sexual predators. As a general rule, they should really be locked away for as long as possible, as your videotape shed some light on."

Between his 2004 release from prison and his parole, Kawamoto had also gone in and out of prison at least three times on various parole violations, according to state records.

"What happens with a lot of these guys that are really unfixable is they just keep getting bounced in and out on their parole violations until they get caught doing something big again," said Portanova. "Now, under the sentencing laws today, somebody with this kind of record gets caught on something serious and they're gone for life." ..News Source.. by Mark Hedlund