David Bates' Attorney Says Sex Was Consensual

The testimony at the preliminary examination for a Los Gatos young man who has pleaded no contest to 13 counts of sexual assault against minors "strongly suggests that [it] was consensual sex between teenagers," his attorney said Tuesday.

Any suggestion that David Raymond Bates, 20, is a "sophisticated sexual predator," is not accurate, said Santa Clara County Deputy Public Defender Ross McMahon.

Bates, who's in custody at the Santa Clara County Jail awaiting a sentencing  date on Nov. 1, appeared before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Philip H. Pennypacker the morning of Oct. 1.

The hearing was attended by parents of two of the four minor victims who are said to have been assaulted by Bates in the summer of 2012 while the girls were students at Los Gatos High School.

The charges against him vary from oral copulation with a minor under the age of 16, to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than the defendant to annoying or molesting a child under the age of 14 and to lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14.

Three of the 13 counts are considered three strikes and statutory rape. By law, on these crimes against the girl—who was 13 years old at LGHS— Bates is required to be psychologically evaluated before sentencing.

"Mr. Bates plead guilty because he wanted to take responsibility for his actions," McMahon said.

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Walsh is opposing probation for Bates, which could mean he would leave county jail and be free under certain conditions. Upon sentencing, however, Bates will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Walsh had originally asked Judge Pennypacker to punish Bates to six years in state prison. McMahon on Tuesday said he's not opposed to his client spending time at the county jail, where he's been kept in custody until now.

"I'm asking the judge to grant him probation and sentence him to a term of confinement in county jail ... as opposed to state prison," McMahon said. "I'm trying to avoid him being sent to state prison."

Judge Pennypacker will have to rely on recommendations from the Santa Clara County Probation Department and a psychiatric report on Bates' mental condition before making that determination.

Walsh said Bates' punishment will be up to the judge at sentencing. "We'll make different arguments then," Walsh said. "State prison has been our offer all along ... you can only go to county jail for one year and he's been in county jail for longer than a year already. He would get released right away."

ALSO ON LOS GATOS PATCH:

• Sentencing Delayed For Los Gatos Man Accused of Sexual Crimes Against Minors
• Los Gatos Man Awaits Sentencing on Sexual Crimes Against Minors