Del Norte DA Press Release:
The
Del Norte District Attorney’s Office announced today that Christopher James
Renner (58) of Crescent City, was sentenced by the Honorable Philip M. Schafer
this morning to serve twelve (12) years in state prison for continuous sexual
abuse upon a child under fourteen. The
Del Norte County Probation Department, charged with the responsibility of
making sentencing recommendations to the court, reported to the court that they
would have recommended probation for Renner if he was eligible but since he was
not, that he should only get six (6) years in state prison, the most lenient
sentencing option available to the court by law.
Renner
pleaded guilty on the morning of trial last month. In addition to pleading guilty, Renner had
admitted three special allegations for having substantial sexual conduct with
the child, for use of force and that the statute of limitations for the crimes
had not expired.
The
charges stem from a series of sexual acts that occurred in Renner’s home
between 1997 and 1999 involving a juvenile male who was between five and seven
years old at the time. Renner had
engaged in substantial sexual conduct with the victim on three or more
occasions spanning a minimum of three months.
Renner had fondled the child’s genitals several times and on one
occasion, Renner had forced the child’s hand onto his genitals. Renner had recurring access to the child
during that period of time. In February
of this year, the District Attorney’s Office became aware of the crimes,
conducted the investigation and charged the case.
“I was completely perplexed that our Probation Department
felt that Renner should get probation and not even sent to state prison at all
for molesting a five to seven year old boy for two years,” said Del Norte
District Attorney Dale P. Trigg who personally handled all aspects of the case
for the prosecution. “This defendant, by
his own admission, took advantage of his position of trust as the father of his
son’s best friend, a boy he himself viewed as a family member, to pray upon a
boy who was particularly vulnerable and in some of the most formative years of
his life. This defendant had regular and
recurring access to this boy over the course of two years, when he was between
five and seven years old, by opening up his home to him as a ‘safe place’ where
he could play with his own son. The
Probation Department considered this defendant nothing more than a neighbor to
this boy, who the defendant himself considered to be a member of his family,
and would not recognize that he had taken advantage of his position of
trust. Fortunately, Judge Schafer saw it
differently and imposed a just sentence on this defendant who seized upon his
own son’s friendship with this boy to take away his innocence,” said Trigg.
The court considered approximately 40 letters of support
written for the defendant and the presence of several dozen community members
who appeared at the sentencing hearing on his behalf. The defendant’s supporters included many
prominent community members, including lawyers, medical professionals, business
owners, counselors, a former supervisor, a supervisor-elect and a former
judge. “One of the general objectives of
sentencing provided by the California Rules of Court is achieving uniformity in
sentencing. Any other defendant, who did
not have this defendant’s money and resources, who could not hire a very
skilled private attorney to represent him and who did not have all of these
influential community members in court backing him up would not get six years with
these facts. This defendant should be
treated no differently,” Trigg argued to the court.
Renner will have to serve 85% of his twelve (12) year
sentence before he will be eligible for parole.
Additionally, Renner will have to register as a sex offender for life.
Sep 19, 2016
On day jury trial was supposed to start Christopher Renner plead guilty to continuous sexual abuse of male minor
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i hope all the yrs he's incarcerated he only knows the dark. he'll forget the smell of fresh air. that he lays awake nights trying to picture the long forgotten color of a blue sunny sky. i hope he never hears a bird chirping. never hears laughter.
ReplyDeletenever feels a compassionate touch.
this, to me, would be what he pays for what he has done.
see him in a damp cold gray-green concrete 8x8 box, an atmosphere so loud that all he will hear 24/7 is yelling, gates banging, men threatening, anguish.