Court reaffirms 150-year sentence for Dwayne Kilgore

A state appeals court has denied a bid by Paul Dwayne Kilgore to overturn a 150-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of three Sonoma Valley boys, affirming a ruling that will keep the Boyes Hot Springs man in prison for the rest of his life.

Kilgore, 71, challenged the length of the prison sentence, in light of his age, and the decision by the trial court to allow four additional alleged victims to testify against the former Boys & Girls Club athletic director.

A three-judge panel of the California 1st District Court of Appeal determined there had been “no error” and upheld the judgment against Kilgore on April 16; a petition for review was denied by the California Supreme Court on June 19; and his conviction was made final July 5.

Kilgore was convicted by a jury of two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child and four counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child on March 20, 2018. Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Robert LaForge sentenced him to consecutive 25-year terms on each of the six counts.

The six-day trial centered on the testimony of three of Kilgore’s victims, who were 13, 15 and 16 at the time of the trial. They told the judge that Kilgore touched their penises on numerous occasions in the defendant’s home and on outings to local pools.

Several older victims were also allowed to take the stand, although Kilgore did not face any charges for the sexual abuse they alleged against him. One witness, who was 42 years old at the time of trial, testified that Kilgore touched his groin over his clothing when the victim was in fourth and fifth grades. Another witness, who was 52 at the time of the trial, estimated that he stayed the night in Kilgore’s home 10 to 20 times and that Kilgore touched his penis on more than five occasions. A third, who was 49 at the time of trial, estimated that Kilgore touched his penis on more than 20 occasions when they were alone at the recreation center. And a fourth, who was 22 at the time of trial, detailed how Kilgore touched his penis in the swimming pool locker room.

The appellate court determined that the experiences of the four men were relevant to the case and upheld LaForge’s decision to allow their testimony.

“In each of the instances, defendant used his position of authority to gain the boys’ trust and then sexually abused them in a fairly consistent manner,” the ruling stated.

The appellate court also rejected Kilgore’s argument that his sentence was “cruel and unusual.”

Kilgore was 70 in 2018 when he was sentenced to 150 years in prison. His appeal cited a 1993 precedent, People v. Hicks, which found that a “sentence ... that cannot possibly be completed in the defendant’s lifetime makes a mockery of the law and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.”

Kilgore contended that the court violated his right to due process, arguing that his sentence was the functional equivalent of life imprisonment without parole because he cannot “possibly hope to complete the sentence in his lifetime.”

The appellate court disagreed. Judges Stuart Pollak, Jon Streeter and Alison Tucher found that imposing a sentence on an elderly defendant that exceeds his life expectancy does not violate the Eighth Amendment.

“Although undoubtedly far longer than defendant’s life expectancy, we cannot say that under current norms defendant’s sentence is ‘grossly disproportionate’ to the severity of his crimes,” the ruling stated. Anything other than an extremely short prison term would likely amount to a life sentence without parole, given Kilgore’s age, the ruling found.

The three judges unanimously affirmed the judgment against Kilgore and rejected his appeal, which was filed in April by his attorney, Ross Thomas. “There was no error in defendant’s sentence,” the ruling concluded.

Multiple civil lawsuits, filed in Sonoma Superior Court on behalf of four of Kilgore’s victims, by Taylor & Ring, a Los Angeles-based trial law firm, are still underway, according to lead attorney David Ring. Also named as defendants in the suit are the national Boys & Girls Club of America organization, the Petaluma Boys & Girls Club, where Kilgore was employed in 2014, as well as Kilgore himself.

Kilgore is serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.