Ex-St. Helena coach charged with sex crimes

By JILLIAN JONES, Register Staff Writer

A former St. Helena High school coach was arrested Wednesday on four felony charges of child sexual assault involving two teenage girls.

Herschel Sandler, 45, currently of Napa, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a girl under 16 from 1997-98 while he was a volleyball coach at St. Helena High School. He is also charged with sexual assault of a second girl under 18 between 1996 and 1999.

Sandler resigned from St. Helena High in November 2007, shortly after the first accusations surfaced, citing personal and family reasons.

Sandler’s wife, Oksana Sandler, said Wednesday the charges are “ridiculous.”

“He is such a great example to everybody ... and if there are some accusations made, they first of all have to be proved,” she said. “Second of all, I just don’t think they have anything to do with him being a man of God, and just a really, really, really wonderful man.”

In addition to his post as volleyball coach, Sandler coached wrestling at St. Helena High until 2007, and served as a youth minister at his former St. Helena church, according to his wife.

Sandler is being held at Napa County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Campus charges

Sandler is accused of having consensual sexual intercourse with the 16-year-old “at least two separate times” — once on the St. Helena High School campus, and once in his car while parked on Crystal Springs Road after dark. He is accused of engaging in lewd acts with the girl at his home in Calistoga at least one time during this period.

According to the criminal complaint against Sandler, he also participated in an act of oral copulation with a second girl under 18 between 1996 and 1999.

Sandler is charged with one count of lewd acts upon a child under 16, two counts of oral copulation with a minor under 16, and one count of oral copulation of a minor under 18.

Special allegations were also filed for “crimes that involved substantial sexual conduct.”

Napa County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said the enhancement would make Sandler ineligible for probation if convicted.

Complaints were filed by the girls — now adults — on Nov. 6, 2007, and Jan. 28, 2008, respectively.

Goold said there is an exception to the statute of limitations for sexual acts against a minor when those acts “don’t come to light until later.”

Stand by his side

Criminal reports do not indicate whether the victims were volleyball players at St. Helena High, but one document alleges that Sandler “committed similar sexual misconduct against other girls (including other teenage girls and other volleyball players).”

According to criminal reports dated March 31, 2008, and signed by District Attorney Gary Lieberstein, “There is evidence that clearly and convincingly corroborates the victim’s allegations,” including “admissions by the defendant.”

Oksana Sandler said there has never been an indication that Sandler was inappropriate with his athletes or other minors, though the couple was not married at the time of the alleged incidents.

“We met in 2003 at a camp for orphans that he was doing in Russia,” she said. “We saw him and the love that he had for those orphans, and you just have to really know him to know what kind of man he is.”

Crying, she called Sandler “the best husband and the best father” to his new son Jacob.

“People that know him, they will stand by him, and we don’t need to prove and to tell anybody anything else,” said Oksana. “He is the best man, and I’m going to be by his side no matter what.”

St. Helena Unified School District Superintendent Allan Gordon declined comment.

Sandler served as the school’s head volleyball coach from 1996-1999, and coached the wrestling team for 13 years until the end of 2007.

Under Sandler’s watch, the wrestling team won nine league titles in 10 seasons and a CIF North Coast Section Class A title. Four St. Helena wrestlers reached the state meet with Sandler as the head coach, with several others winning league championships.

He also coached men’s and women’s volleyball at Pacific Union College from 2002 to 2006, according to PUC Director of Human Resources Gayln Bowers.

Police are interested in contacting anyone who may have information regarding Sandler’s activities during the time he worked at St. Helena High School. The public is asked to contact District Attorney Investigator Bill Francis at 259-8308 with any additional information.

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