" So much for all those "innocent until proven guilty" posts in the April 3 and 11th article.

Posters and parents alike put their head in the sand when this stuff rears it's ugly head. Denial is not a river in Egypt. "

" This preditor is going to get at max a one year stint in county? And even more victims have come forth, but there is a statute of limitations. This guy has preyed on childern for a long time. And the DA's office is arranging plea deals with this guy?

Unbelievable "

" Wow! What an incredible mis-use of the community's trust. This guy really had most of the city of St. Helena backing him up. I feel sorry for all of those involved. "

" Now that the verdict is in, we can all talk about how disgusting this person is and it's a damn shame that he will not be going to prison for his crimes. Consensual or not, he is a predator and should be banned from being around children. I am also appalled by the fact that he is a "youth minister". "

" Unbelievable. This guys should spend the rest of his life in prison. How can you trust someone like that in our community,even if he has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life that doesn't guarantee he won't do it again. He should spend time in prison to serve as a deterrent for other sex offenders. And in regards to the statue of limitations, i don't think there should be a statue of limitations for sex offenders. "

" He runs a resturant? Wow...sounds like a job for Gordon Ramsey to fix... "

" Predators only belong one place.. and thats in a cage! "

" Now that he is proven guilty by his own admission, I would like to see his punishment severe enough to deter others from making the same choice. When a teacher or a coach or a youth minister, or a whatever is counting the cost of whether or not to engage in statutory sexual abuse and he sees one year of jail, is he going to decide that the gratification of the moment is not worth the risk?
What about the lax standard on female adults engaging in the same activities with a minor boy, or girl for that matter? There was a threepeater on the news just the other day. They just slap the wrist on these women and consider the teen boys "lucky."
What an obvious double standard. Girls that engage in consensual sexual activities with adults are no more harmed than are their male counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I believe that emotionally and psychologically, they are equally injured. "

" Does anyone know the resturant he works at ?I have teenagers and do not want them working there.This guy got off wat to easy and I remember all the support he was given.Enjoy the crow.Who knows how many OTHER CHILDEREN he has done this to.The DA took the easy way out.Pitifull. "

" First of all - the plea was "no contest". And this is not the same as "guilty".
And here are my concerns that make me look at our “JUST” justice system at a different angle.
If the California law says that you cannot have sex if you are under 18, how come there are so many teenagers having sex with each other and they are not in jail? How come Britney Spears’ sister’s boyfriend is not in jail? She is 16, right? And he is 3 years older…How many of you and all other people out there walking the streets of USA started to have sex in their teen years? Why aren’t those people in jail?
Some people here say that this guy has to spend his whole life in prison. Ask yourself – how old were YOU when you started having sex? Do YOU want to go to prison for the rest of your life?
And how come a thinking, educated 17-year-old girl who consensually chose to have sex 10 years ago all of a sudden becomes a victim?
"

" Okay, I'll bite: What is the difference between "no contest" and "guilty"?

No legal mombo-jumbo, please... One means the perp does not contest the charges against him, and the other is the result of a ruling.

Statutory rape is statutory rape by any other name. Since you think it's "normal", then hire the guy as your babysitter, or tutor. "

" Newmom,
wow do you have a lot to learn.... what you said doesn't even make sense...think before you type next time. "

" Dwayne wrote on May 1, 2008 7:17 PM:

" Okay, I'll bite: What is the difference between "no contest" and "guilty"?

No contest derives from the latin word, “nolo contendre”. In our justice system what it means is that someone is saying “I will plead guilty to the criminal charges, however, I will not admit to guilt, so that it cannot be used against me in tort law”. The reason behind this is because when a person pleads “no contest” the victim of the criminal acts cannot use the guilty verdict in a civil trial.

A person who is found not guilty in a criminal trial can still be found guilty in a civil court, (example is OJ Simpson was found not guilty in criminal proceedings and received no punishment, but later, was found guilty in civil court and lost almost everything he owns.) By a person pleading “no contest” as far as the civil court is concerned, he/she never plead guilty.

So to sum all of this up, it is the most common plea given in our justice system, and the main reason is to protect the defendant from feature action in civil courts; however, in criminal courts we still treat them as a guilty plea when it comes time for sentencing.
"

" OH my goodness, Newmom, your attempt at trying to persuade us to view this perp differently is almost frightening, especially being as you likely are a "new mom". You do indeed have much to learn.

Again I state that my heart goes out to his wife, she must be thoroughly and deeply hurt inside to discover this behavior coming from what she had considered her godly husband.

I am glad the victims do not have to go to trial, for that I am greatful for his,... ahem "no contest" plea.

Parents wake up and please keep an eye on your children in our schools, youth groups, etc. Talk to your children, it's never to soon to begin discussions.

I'm just really sorry for all involved, the victims, the wife, the church, the community in St. Helena... it's all just tragic.

"

" Thanks, jjnnapa... I learned something.... "

" I've never considered him a friend, but I know Sandler. He's a wrestler and is physically very strong. I remember a t-shirt that he used to wear that claimed wrestling is "elegant violence". I find his actions revolting. A year at the county jail is insufficient and is an insult to the word "justice". "

" It would seem like consensual sex with a minor over 16 is okay as long as there is no one hurt by it. We were all aware of it in high school. No one got busted for it. But this guy is a much older, married man. His intent can only be evil. He used his position as a mentor and teacher to intimidate these young girls into doing his will. Now they are angry about it and who can blame them? If Mr. Sandler wants to save himself from doing some hard time by taking responsibilty for the crimes without admitting guilt, he is well advised to do so. A trial in this case would undoubtedly end up being somewhat of a circus. Who need that? The taxpayers and the vicitms can be spared that ordeal and that cost. In reading the charges, while Sandler did admit to what he did do with those girls, there may not have been any fornication involved. In other words, according to Bill Clinton's definition, Mr. Sandler "did not have sex with those young ladies." What he did do was immoral, illegal and totally disgusting and he does deserve to be properly punished. I think that is about to happen. Justice will take its revenge on Mr. Sandler. "

" Why wasn't I permitted to use the word - which when spelled backwards is "tselom" in my original submission? It was used in the main body of the Register article. What gives? "

" Why shouldn't he serve jail time like former Vintage High teacher Kurt Wenneker? This guy should not be given a chance to go straight to probation without serving time in the penetentary. "

" An interesting twist to the story--this should be a lesson for all of you who jumped to his defense, making comments about his innocence and stating these victims were making this up. Unfortunately, many perpetrators of this type of crime are very well liked in their communities and this helps them get away with this type of behavior because no one ever suspects them. If you think about it, why would someone report something like this ten years after the fact just to make it up--most likely the victims finally revealed this to a person who was mandated by law to report this, or it may have never been discovered. I feel for the victims, I really do. The sad thing is that this guy is getting off so easy and these victims will live with this forever--believe me, as they get older they will recognize the depth of deception by this teacher and it will affect how they view others in the future. My prayers to the victims--and to all of the supporters who said he could have never done it---well, don't be sure you know EVERYTHING about others. This guy's secrets were just much much worse than anyone could have imagined. "

" Thank you to the victims for sparing the lives of all future victims. a 45 year old child predator hiding out as a youth minister cannot be considered "consensual" anything much like the polygamist sect children don't choose to "marry" 40 year old adults. Combing the high school for dates, is perverse and wrong, downfall of our society despicable cowards, much more so placing yourself in a position of authority to do so. Protect kids NOW! "

" Now this disgusting person will get what he deserves (albeit a light sentence).
WHERE DOES THIS GUY WORK?????
The article states that he works in a resturaunt around KIDS!!!!.

I want to know so I will NEVER patronize that place again!.

He will now have to register under Megan's Law...... If anyone has the time, go to the Sheriff's Dept. website and look up our local Megan's Law Members..... pretty scary......

This REALLY puts a light on who is coaching our kids........
For those parents who do the ol "drop and run" you know who you are... drop your kids at practice and let the coach do the free "babysitting" for you, so you can go to the store, go home and prepare dinner........ BETTER TO STAY, than to use it as free babysitting...
PLUS YOUR KIDS WANT YOU THERE!!! "

" Innocent until proven guilty is still the law of the land. And now he is PROVEN GUILTY. Now we can set loose the hounds (pit bulls). As for the drop and run practice at kids athletic practice; first off, I have always thought organized sports are extremely over rated. Participate for the fun of it, but sports (for most) will never be a career. As for the people coaching, organizations go to great lengths to vet applicants. But all this does is verify the absence of a conviction. We still (thank God) do not have the ability to capture people’s thoughts. Just imagine the implications if we did. How many times have you have a disparaging thought about some person, such a thought that if the idea were made public you would be in deep trouble? Such screening is not possible or practical. In the defense of the Drop and Run crowd, we leave our children at school for the bulk of the day, only in the care of school staff. Similar instances happen there as well. The fact is this is a dangerous world and stuff happens. Sometimes it is horrible, unspeakable, stuff. The fact is that we cannot protect our children from all dangers in life. All we can do is educate them and hope we have equipped them to make wise choices that help them avoid these situations. Sadly, that too is sometimes not enough. "

" Newmom, you have serious issues. So if you have a daughter, and she is 16, you are OK with her having sex with 45 year old men? It isn't even a slightly close comparison when an 18 year old has sex with a 16 year old. That was the dumbest defense you could have possibly come up with. "

" At the outset of this issue, I suggested we give this individual the benefit of doubt since this information was presented. Each of us has the right to an unprejudiced debate and representation when accused of any crime or misdemeanor.
Now this matter has become more precise, there needs to be a more aggressive action against the miscreant than a mere slap on the hand. A person who holds the trust of The People must suffer stronger retribution for their acts. The youth who were subject to his acts have their own lives and it is a shame they have to carry these memories with them.

I often wonder why Richard Allen Davis is drawing breath this very day. "

" Not all people who have sex with minors are predators, how do we know that these girls were failing and offered themselves?? He still should have said no but if you ask me, the law should be no one to have sex under 16 not 18. "

" CHACHA,
Herschel was not in a position to pass or fail any of the students he worked with so their would be no reason for a girl to proposition him with sex to improve their grade. Maybe a girl really wanted to be on the first string volleyball team, but that seems unlikely. Also, we don't know if these girls were involved in volleyball, they could have been invovled in the church group he supervised.
I agree that no prison time for a plea of no contest is a very light sentence, but registering as a sex offender is going to screw him over for the rest of his life, unless he leaves the country.
Also, to anyone who says these teenage girls were just as responsible as the adult in question, that statement is ridiculous. I know some 18 year olds and maybe even some 16 year olds are more mature than others, but these girls were still in high school. I might have thought I knew evertyhing in high school, but once you start living on your own, completely responsible for your own actions, that is when you really mature and become an adult. You can't tell me these girls were mature enough to make these kinds of decisions, and the person who should have been mature enough to make these decisions is the adult. The full blame should rest on the adult's shoulders. "