Rashel Brandon speaks to attorney Anthony Robinson in court in 2017. (Dan Coyro — Santa Cruz Sentinel file)
SANTA CRUZ — A former Watsonville nurse pleaded guilty to involvement in a child sex scandal Thursday, pleaded guilty to four of 44 felony counts, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with the option of parole. rice field.
As part of a plea bargain with the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office, 48-year-old Rashel Brandon must testify in a former accomplice’s trial and be registered as a sex offender for life after being released.
“I also apologize to the victims of this,” Brandon wrote in part in a statement read aloud in court on Thursday. “It will affect them for the rest of their lives.” To that end, I hope I can rewind time and do my part and contact authorities when I learn what the co-defendants have been doing over the years.”
Brandon also apologized to his family, friends, colleagues and community, saying, “These crimes shook all of these people to the core.” Brandon said he sought counseling while he was incarcerated.
Evidence presented at an earlier hearing included a series of videos depicting the sexual abuse of boys aged 3 and 10 and a girl aged 5.
The 48-year-old mother was previously employed by Dignity Health and spent nearly six years in Santa Cruz County Jail. Without her deal or exoneration, the maximum sentence for her charges was life imprisonment.
Brandon pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sodomy with a victim under the age of 10, lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14, and using a minor for sex.
Brandon is one of three co-defendants indicted in May 2017 as part of a Watsonville Police Department investigation involving fellow nurse Emily Stephens in Tucson, Arizona, and former Palo Alto Medical Foundation neurosurgeon James Kohut. was. However, he retained surgical privileges at the Dominican Hospital.
Soquel’s Kohut, who has been charged with 48 felony counts, allegedly hooked up with multiple women online and tried to impregnate them and have sex with their children to perpetuate a “taboo family,” according to court documents. It is She committed suicide in October 2019 while she was in the county jail.
Stevens, who was described by law enforcement at the time as being Kohut’s girlfriend, was pregnant at the time of his arrest. remained.
