Lurid testimony given in the initial case against Pauling
As anticipated, Donny Pauling faces new criminal charges alleging statutory rape of a second victim.
The new criminal complaint against the anti-pornography activist includes eight sex crime-related counts, including sex with a minor; oral copulation with a minor; meeting a minor with sexual intent; and molesting a minor; as well as one charge of first-degree burglary,
Pauling, 41, a former low-end producer of soft and hardcore images, became an associate of Gail Dines and Shelley Lubben, and preached fairly regularly about what he alleges are the detrimental impacts of pornography on girls and women, and families. Criminal charges filed against him suggest that he may have been a serial molester all the while.
Gail Dines and Donny Pauling in 2014
Pauling was arrested Dec. 1 by the Sutter County Sheriff on three felony sex charges, including Unlawful Intercourse (Statutory Rape), after a 16-year-old female told law enforcement that Pauling had ongoing sexual contact with her for the past three years.
According to detectives, the teen had first disclosed Pauling’s actions to both her mother and a friend Thanksgiving week.
The Appeal-Democrat reports
She told detectives Pauling had told her that if she ever told officers about the relationship, she should tell him first so he could kill himself.
She also said Pauling told her he wasn’t like other child molesters because he loved her.
On Dec. 17, Pauling claimed in a jailhouse interview that Sutter County Sheriff’s Captain Lewis McElfresh Jr. had urged him to have sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Evidence of the second alleged victim was presented to Yuba City police, and on Dec. 18, Monica Vaughan at the Appeal-Democrat reported, the Sutter County District Attorney charged McElfresh with five felonies: two counts of felony child molestation, willful child cruelty, burglary and misdemeanor charges of annoying or molesting a minor and indecent exposure. McElfresh, is being held with bail set at $5 million,
According to statements made in open court on Jan 14, additional victims were identified in the criminal investigation of Pauling.
New testimony
Pauling appeared in court Thursday, for a preliminary hearing in the original case.
While the initial criminal complaint charged two counts, the Appeal-Democrat has reported that
Additional counts added by [Sutter County Superior Court Judge H. Ted] Hansen covered two time periods, including actions alleged to have occurred in Redding before Pauling moved to Yuba City in 2012. Shasta County gave jurisdiction to Sutter County for prosecution.
Monica Vaughan reported that Sutter County sheriff’s Detective Robert C. Brokenbrough, who has interviewed the teen three times since Nov. 30, testified Thursday that
Pauling first made inappropriate comments to the first victim about her lips and bottom. The comments turned into sexual acts, and Pauling first had sex with the girl in the summer of 2014. She said he used a condom until he had a vasectomy….
The girl told him that Pauling bought her lingerie — which detectives discovered in his bedroom — and photographed her in erotic and sexualized poses. She said Pauling uploaded the photos to Reddit.com
Deputy District Attorney Anu Chopra submitted 10 photos of the girl into evidence. Some of the photos included the girl posing topless, exposing her bottom, and some included other minors.
According to Brokenbrough, the teen told authorities that Pauling had once video-recorded her in the shower, which she only realized after she discovered the hidden device.
The detective also testified that there were additional witnesses.
He said a mother of a friend of the girl’s once saw a photo of the girl’s crotch on Pauling’s phone. And the girl’s ex-boyfriend disclosed that Pauling told him that Pauling had seen the girl’s vagina and urged the boy to date her.
The case has been continued until Feb. 13.
UPDATE: The case is now continued to March 13.
A second case
And now, as the Appeal-Democrat reported, Pauling has a second criminal case filed against him:
Deputy District Attorney Anu Chopra filed a nine-count criminal complaint naming Pauling in [connection with McElfresh] on Wednesday. The charges alleged four incidents of unlawful sex with a minor….
Investigators are in the process of interviewing eight minor girls as potential victims of Pauling, according to a declaration filed by Sutter County sheriff’s Lt. James Casner. Some of those girls live in Glenn and Butte counties.
Chopra said she will ask for a bail enhancement for Pauling, which, if granted, would increase his bail from $500,000 to $1 million.
His arraignment in the new case was also continued to Feb. 13, and until then he will be held without bail on the new charges.
UPDATE: This new case is now also continued to March 13. Pauling continues to remain held without bail.
Judge Hansen was unable set bail, he said, because no one has communicated with the alleged victim about Pauling’s potential release, something that is required by Marsy’s Law.
Pauling was taken into custody after Sutter County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at his Yuba City home, where some evidence was recovered, including multiple computers.
In September 2014, less than two months before his arrest, Pauling spoke at the St. Isadore Catholic Church in Yuba City.
UPDATE: Pauling and McElfresh both made brief appearances in separate courtrooms on Feb. 13.
McElfresh’s hearing was continued. The Appeal-Democrat reports that McElfresh has yet to enter a plea.
His attorney, Jesse Santana, filed a motion to oppose the district attorney’s attempts to subpoena medical records for the minor. The hearing and arraignment are scheduled for March 6.
Pauling appeared in court briefly, but hearings in both his sex crime cases were continued and reset for March 13.
According to reporter Monica Vaughan, at the Feb 13 hearing,
District Attorney Amanda Hopper applied for and received a criminal protective order barring Pauling from contacting the minor involved in both cases.
Hopper said the request was a response to “Facebook contact.”
