A Santa Rosa, California man who pleaded no contest to bashing a stranger’s face with a rock after groping her in front of her daughter, leaving the mother permanently disfigured, will not face any prison time, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office announced last week.
Judge Dana Beernink Simonds sentenced the violent criminal, Trevor Colombano, to a term of probation after he pled “no contest” to charges including mayhem with assault with a deadly weapon as well as sexual battery.
A Change.org petition launched Wednesday, calling for the recall of Judge Simonds, has garnered nearly 2,000 signatures at the time of this writing.
The District Attorney’s Office, the Court’s Probation Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the victim, all recommended or requested Colombano be sentenced to state prison.
On October 28, 2023, the victim took her dog for a walk in Santa Rosa on a sunny Saturday afternoon. She stepped outside of her apartment on Sonoma Avenue near Howarth Park and was approached from behind by Colombano.
Colombano rubbed his erect penis on the victim’s buttocks, and when she rebuffed his advances, brutally attacked her. Colombano struck her on the head several times with a closed fist, and the attack then took a horrific turn when Colombano retrieved a landscaping rock and repeatedly bashed the victim’s face with it.
The attack occurred while the victim’s 13-year-old daughter and 13-year-old cousin looked on helplessly. It only stopped when two bystanders wrestled Colombano to the ground and held him until Santa Rosa police arrived.
The victim was left with several lacerations to her scalp and a full-thickness laceration to her lip. The injuries required 17 sutures, 5 staples, and left her permanently disfigured. Colombano also ripped off the victim’s shirt and bra during the attack.
The judge’s decision countered requests from the victim, along with District Attorney Carla Rodriguez, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Sonoma County Probation Department to send Colombano to prison, the DA’s office said.
“I have cried more in the last six months than I have in my entire lifetime,” the mother told the court at her attacker’s sentencing. “My daughter and my little cousin, both thirteen at the time, had to witness the whole thing … I cannot even put into words the feeling of not being able to protect yourself or your child at the same time.”
In its recommendation of a prison sentence, the Sonoma County Probation Department said, “The defendant is statutorily limited from receiving probation and we cannot, even after much effort considering the complexities, favorable, and mitigating factors involved in this case, identify any factors that mark this matter an unusual case for probation consideration.
Judge Simonds, who diverged from requests and recommendations when giving Colombano probation, referenced mental health issues and said Colombano’s cannabis consumption and stress were contributing factors in the brutal attack, according to the DA’s office.
● A crime occurs on average every 1 hour 40 minutes in Santa Rosa.
● The violent crime rate in Santa Rosa is 4.423 per 1,000 residents in the typical year.
● The total projected cost of crime in Santa Rosa for 2025 is $38,184,426. This translates to approximately $181 per resident and $480 per household.
District Attorney Rodriguez stated, “Justice was not served in this case. The victim was walking her dog on a public street in Sonoma County and minding her own business when Mr. Colombano viciously attacked her while her 13-year old daughter and niece looked on. He sexually assaulted the victim and then beat her in the face with a rock to the point of hospitalization and permanent disfigurement.”
“This woman will be permanently scarred for the rest of her life, both physically and emotionally,” he continued. “Her daughter and niece’s sense of safety and well-being will never be the same. Mr. Colombano is a menace to public safety, period, and should be sitting in prison. That won’t happen. As there is no further action legally allowable for our office, the community, and more importantly, the victims will have to live with the consequences of this sentence. I am incredibly disappointed in the outcome of this case.”
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What possible justification did this judge have for delivering such a ludicrous lack of justice?
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She has TDS.
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No doubt, Nancy; and worse, apparently.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I can only speculate, but don’t see it as justified.
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What can I say – It’s California.
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Not much law in California, so who would want to live there? It’s always in their eyes, always.
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I have relatives in California, who, when they come to Texas are terrified they are going to get arrested or in trouble for practically everything…like jaywalking in a residential neighborhood. They will walk 8 houses away to the corner to cross the street.
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California is a State in Emergency, but hang on for the turnaround!
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Yes, it needs to happen.
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