Michael Todd
Santa Cruz Sentinel, Calif.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A former Live Oak foster parent, Girl Scouts troop leader and Scotts Valley Unified School District technology director accused of molesting children is competent to stand trial, a doctor reported.
The accused, Carl Benedict Guerin, 57, faces 16 felonies linked with lewd acts with children and attempts to dissuade a witness, according to court documents. A physician, upon court order, reviewed the defendant’s mental state and ruled out the need for medication and noted that the examination was spurred by the defendant’s decision to sever his testicles while in jail.
Guerin is accused of molesting seven girls from 2002 to 2012.
Defense attorney Douglas Fox raised doubts about the defendant’s competence during a hearing March 4 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. The court appointed Dr. Gregory Katz to examine Guerin.
While incarcerated, staff observed that Guerin had a tranquil mood but an abnormal preoccupation with cleanliness in his cell, according to Katz’s report based on interviews with county mental health staff and attorneys involved in the case.
‘Self-surgery’
The inmate also planned the operation on his genitals amid fears of prostate cancer, Katz wrote.
The doctor’s review included jail records tracking Guerin’s behavior.
“In the reports, the defendant was described as saying he ‘did the procedure as a preventative,’” Katz wrote. He also interviewed the inmate on March 4.
Guerin was born in Livermore; he told Katz he had been diagnosed with autism. Guerin had a notable professional background: He acquired degrees in mechanical engineering and worked for a Santa Cruz audio technology company and served as an instructor at Cabrillo College in drafting technology. While at the Scotts Valley School District, where he served as technology director for two years, Guerin supervised other employees. He was placed on administrative leave and terminated after he was arrested, Katz wrote.
Guerin told Katz he had severed his testicles Dec. 30, 2018. That spurred the “competency issue,” according to the doctor’s report.
Guerin prepared a six-page explanation of his procedure. He also told Katz his intentions to proceed to trial instead of pleading guilty. Guerin said he was innocent, according to the report.
“Based on the available information, it does appear Mr. Guerin’s difficulties are substantially related to a ‘high-functioning’ autism spectrum disorder,” Katz wrote. But the defendant understands court proceedings.
Trial dates were vacated.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel is presiding.
Guerin remains at Santa Cruz County Jail, where he was booked Dec. 3, 2014, according to jail records.
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©2019 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.)