He described ‘grooming’ and molesting boys through Contra Costa churches. Then he was granted parole

SOLEDAD — A Bay Point child molester has been tentatively granted release from prison after California parole commissioners lauded the “coping tools” he can use to address the “pedophilic disorder” that led him to groom and molest children he met through Contra Costa churches.

Before he was granted parole last January, 51-year-old Ronald DeGuzman — an Air Force veteran and former San Francisco police officer — gave hours of testimony that offered a detailed glimpse into the mind of a self-admitted child predator. In 2017, DeGuzman accepted a plea deal for a life sentence with a chance for parole in a massive child molestation case involving five victims who he met through churches in central and East Contra Costa, according to court records.

In front of the parole board, DeGuzman admitted to victimizing eight boys hundreds of times and said that if “voyeurism” were factored in, the number of victims would be around 50. But perhaps his most stunning admissions were his descriptions of how he hid in plain sight, using his status and charm to methodically gain the trust of parents in his community, knowing full well he was only doing so because he planned to get their children alone and abuse them.

“It’s good I came to prison. I understand that it’s good that I’m here. I needed to be here,” DeGuzman said at the hearing. “I needed to be removed from society.”

But DeGuzman’s time in prison may soon be coming to an end, though it remains an open question. A parole board granted his release, but in late May, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked for a “full review” by a second board, which is likely to convene later this year. A hearing date has not yet been set, records show.

At the January hearing, at a prison in Soledad, DeGuzman admitted his “attraction” to kids will probably last for the rest of his life. But he told the board he has evolved from the “person I was” and is committed to not doing harm.

“I deceived you all and other families into thinking your sons would be protected and safe with me. I lied directly to all your faces without remorse or shame, manipulating your trust in someone who was law enforcement, a veteran, and someone who claimed to be a Christian brother,” he said to the parents of two victims at his hearing. “However I am no longer the same person and I vow to never take advantage of people or create new victims by continuing my therapy and rehabilitation for the rest of my life.”

Parole commissioners acknowledged DeGuzman’s “higher moderate risk for future violence” and said he would require “special conditions” if he is released. But they said they were moved by his honesty and apparent commitment to abiding by sex offender requirements if released.

“Mr. DeGuzman is not in denial with regards to his pedophilic disorder,” Commissioner Excel Sharrieff said at the hearing. “He understands this is going to remain with him for the rest of his life, but more importantly he has coping tools in place to address those concerns.”

DeGuzman told the board that he understands how his “attraction” to children works now. His time as a predator started when DeGuzman was just 12 and continued until 2014, at age 39, when he was arrested by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s office and charged with 17 counts of sexual abuse, he said.

He used his time in the Air Force and three years with the San Francisco Police Department to his advantage, he said, gaining the trust of parents whose sons might want to become soldiers or cops one day themselves. He met his victims through churches where he was active, he said, using their trust as a weapon, to isolate young boys. He said he was in the process of “grooming” two new victims when he was arrested.

“My grooming process started with the mother and the father, the people around them to gain their trust so that when I was around their children they wouldn’t question it,” DeGuzman told the board. As time went on he would start, “getting them used to my touch; would be a handshake at first, a pat on the back.”

When he began molesting children, he would justify it by convincing himself that he was “doing more good than bad,” he said.

“I felt entitled to the sex that I was getting,” he said.

One recent example of his change, he said, was during a hearing in a prison visitation room with family members when he started to feel “distracted” by a boy at another table. He said he asked to switch seats so the child wouldn’t be in his line of sight. Later, the parole board asked him what he is most proud of.

“That I’ve changed,” DeGuzman said. “That I’m not the that same offending person, that I’m not victimizing anyone anymore … That’s what I’m most proud of, that I don’t objectify people anymore.”

DeGuzman’s release was opposed by both the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office and the two family members of his victims who showed up to speak out at the hearing. Both said they were there because they didn’t want other families to suffer how theirs did.

“We have nightmares knowing what he did to our child, knowing we trusted him and brought him into our lives,” one victim’s mother said. “It haunts us and sickens us to this day. We can never escape the nightmare that is Ronald DeGuzman.”