Brock Daniels, the ex-Vintage High School strength coach arrested on allegations of 29 counts of felony and misdemeanor sex crimes involving teenaged girls, faces a June 5 sentencing based on a plea deal reached last week.
Daniels, 26, of Napa, pleaded no contest to the charges on Monday, May 6, just four days before he was set to go to trial on Thursday. If convicted at trial, he could have faced approximately eight years in prison, according to Napa County Deputy District Attorney Allison Haley.
Under terms of his no contest plea agreement, Daniels will be sentenced to one year in jail, mandatory registration as a sex offender and a waiver on rights to appeal. The no contest plea is not the same as a guilty plea, but it carries the same effect in that his sentencing is already stipulated in the agreement, Haley said.
Haley said the reduced sentence was a necessary tradeoff to avoid the potentially devastating effect on the victims -- girls mostly in the age range of about 16 years old -- of having to endure testifying at trial.
"The primary purpose of this agreement was to protect the dignity of the victims," Haley said. "That's very important."
Haley said while "in an ideal world," prosecutors would push to get a conviction and maximum punishment, a trial where a 16-year-old is put on the stand to be grilled about sexual issues could affect her negatively for the rest of her life.
"You have to temper the desire to get the maximum sentence against the cost to the victims of a public trial," Haley said. "There are a lot of victims and these are sensitive issues -- minors have to be treated differently."
Although Daniels' defense attorneys had tried to have Napa County District Attorney's office removed from the case due to allegations of conflict of interest, that motion was denied last week.
Haley said her office showed no bias toward Daniels because of his ties to local law enforcement. Daniels' parents are a Napa Police officer and a retired Napa County Sheriff's deputy.
"This case was excruciatingly documented and extraordinarily investigated," she said.
Daniels, who had been free on bail pending the trial, was arrested April 4 by a Napa Police detective on suspicion of violating terms of his bail agreement by participating in social media. However, Daniels was released a short time later and no charges were filed in that situation.
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