Victim's dad sees former coach get prison sentence for sexual abuse

Lafferty gets two years in prison and probation

Victims were all minors

By Gloria I. Wang

Former Westmont High School softball coach Todd Lafferty is behind bars, and the father of one of his victims says that he is both relieved and disappointed.

Lafferty, 27, was recently sentenced to two years in a state prison. He will also be on probation for three years following his prison term. Almost a month ago, Lafferty pleaded guilty to five charges of sexual crimes involving three underage girls. He pleaded no contest to two charges that involved a fourth minor.

The father of one of the victims, referred to as "Jane Doe Three," was present at the sentencing. He said that he had expected a sentence of close to four years. "There's no such thing as too much time. Any sentence is not enough time," he said.

The father, who declined to give his name to protect his family--"I don't want my daughter to be exposed"--said that his daughter had been abused by Lafferty in 1998, when she was 15 years old. "It took my daughter three years to recover," he said. "And Todd gets to serve less time than that."

Lafferty appeared at the Santa Clara Family Court on Oct. 4 after being free on bail and living at his parents' Saratoga home since February. In contrast to an earlier court appearance, at which he had seemed almost lighthearted, Lafferty's face was grim and he occasionally wept as he waited for the sentencing to begin.

Before the session began, Lafferty poured and quickly gulped several cups of water. With Lafferty were his parents, other friends and family, and a woman who rubbed his back as he held his face in his hands. Lafferty reportedly became engaged during the past year. As Lafferty stood up to approach the judge, he embraced his family and kissed the woman.

Standing next to defense attorney Steve Manchester, Lafferty listened as Judge Thomas Hastings of the Santa Clara County Superior Court told him that probation from his sentence was not possible due to the fact that "Mr. Lafferty did occupy a position of trust in the community.

"It's been a tragedy for a lot of people; certainly for the victims who have been emotionally and sexually traumatized," Hastings said. "And also, for this young man--who had a college degree, no criminal record and a career in coaching." Hastings said that Lafferty's future was once promising, but that this case had changed everything.

Hastings ordered Lafferty to pay restitution to all four victims as well as $7,000 to a state victim's compensation board for the counseling that was provided to the girls.

Lafferty began sobbing as Hastings said that Lafferty had already served 78 days of his prison term. As the former coach was led away by officials, he asked to speak with his family, but the request was denied. Lafferty said "I love you" to the woman before leaving the room.

Chuck Gillingham, Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, said Lafferty boarded a bus that took him to San Quentin State Prison, where he would stay for 90 days. After those 90 days, prison officials will determine where to send him to serve the remainder of his sentence.

"I wanted him to stand up there and look me in the eye and say, 'I'm sorry,'" said Jane Doe Three's father. Lafferty offered no apology.

The sentence concluded a case that began in March 2000, when Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Detective Randy Bishop received reports of possible misconduct from Child Protective Services. Those reports were based on complaints from "Jane Doe One," who was a 15-year-old Los Gatos High School student when she was abused by Lafferty.

In a letter to Judge Hastings, which was submitted to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, the father of Jane Doe One wrote, "Mr. Lafferty commenced his 'relationship' with my daughter when she was beginning her sophomore year at Los Gatos High School. He flattered my daughter, repeatedly approached her, regularly met with her off-campus without our knowledge or consent, conversed with her in online chat rooms on America Online, and finally used her by physically forcing himself on her."

Jane Doe One was an A student before she met Lafferty, according to the letter, but ended her sophomore year with Cs and Ds and has needed years of therapy to recover.

"Because of my daughter's courage, and the police department's investigation, Lafferty is no longer in a position to be able to victimize the girls at Los Gatos High School," he wrote.

Bishop arrested Lafferty at his Campbell apartment on Sept. 25, 2000. When news of the arrest broke out the next day, the father of Jane Doe Three said that his first instinct was to support Lafferty. Lafferty had been invited to their house for dinner several times in the preceding years, he said. The night of Lafferty's arrest, Jane Doe Three confessed to her parents what had happened with Lafferty in 1999. "She didn't want it to happen to anyone else," her father said.

There had been warning signs that something was wrong in Jane Doe Three's life even before the arrests. Her father said that she had experienced a traumatic event before she became involved with Lafferty.

"She was very emotional all the time. She was crying all the time," he said. "But she would call Todd at 2 in the morning and she felt better."

On Sept. 27, 2000, the father of Jane Doe Three went to Los Gatos High School administrators early in the morning to report what his daughter had told him. He then walked across the street to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department and charges were eventually filed.

The parents of Jane Doe Three have lost friendships because of the case, said the girl's father. "I get a lot of crap from other parents who know Todd," he said. "Los Gatos is a small town," her father said. "Everyone knows.

"She gets harassed at school; she gets harassed at work," said the father of Jane Doe Three. "Just the other day, a friend of Todd's went to my daughter's work and said, 'You bitch.'"

The community blamed the girls for Lafferty's imprisonment, he said, but "the victim's never at fault." He said he is also disappointed with Los Gatos High School administrators because they never phoned the family with words of support or encouragement.

Los Gatos High School Principal Trudy McCulloch declined to discuss Lafferty except to say, "I'm just glad that it's over and the girls are now protected."

In his letter, the father of Jane Doe One wrote that Lafferty's supporters "have talked about what a wonderful man he is, about his years of service as a coach of girls' softball teams, how he is a pillar of our community, and how he could never have done something like this. They have suggested that the allegations against Lafferty that were made by the ... victims were somehow fabricated or concocted.

"On a personal level, my daughter has had to endure the verbal abuse and taunts of some of Lafferty's supporters. Because of this public humiliation, there were days when she would come home from school in tears.

"Frankly, I am not sure which was worse--Lafferty's crimes or the subsequent attacks on my daughter and the police by Lafferty's supporters."

The father of Jane Doe Three said that their whole family has been changed by what happened. His daughter has suddenly become more mature--"She's 17 going on 27. Her friends are all in their early 20s"--and her goals in life have changed. "Now she says she doesn't want to get married, doesn't want to have kids. She says it jokingly, but I know that it's because of him," he said.

His family has had to go to therapy and is still dealing with the effects. "Every time [our daughter] goes out, my wife's on the edge," he said. "She calls her every 15 minutes."

But Jane Doe Three's family has seen some good come out of the experience, says her father. She now speaks at classes and lectures, teaching therapists about sexual abuse from the viewpoint of a minor. The family sometimes leads support groups for families who have been through similar ordeals.

The father urges parents to "be on guard at all times." He said, "As much as you know someone, you have to be careful ... [Your kids] think they're adults and they can make their own decisions, but they can't.

"When you find out that something has happened, you have to take action," he said. "If it's happened to your child, they're preying on someone else."

Jane Doe One's father wrote, "We should be thanking and congratulating the police and the district attorney's office for the investigation and prosecution of this sexual predator. We should also be thanking the victims for the tremendous courage that they showed in coming forward, even while they were being attacked for doing so.

"Because of them, our schools are safer places."

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