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A once well-known youth golf instructor in the Tri-Valley faces up to 18 years in prison after being found guilty by an Alameda County jury on Monday of continuous sexual abuse of a minor student and other related charges.
Kwangson "Sonny" Kim was remanded into jail custody upon his conviction on four of five counts against him for acts between 2014 and 2018. He is scheduled to be sentenced later in September, according to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
The trial saw the former student testify to abuse she told the jury occurred starting when she was 12 years old, as well as testimony from two other witnesses who said the defendant touched them inappropriately in the past. Kim took to the witness stand too, denying the allegations, according to attorneys in the case.
"I am pleased that the jury found the defendant guilty and that justice was served on behalf of the victim and the entire community," said deputy district attorney Natasha Jontulovich, who prosecuted the case.
Defense attorney Matthew Oliveri, who represents Kim, said his client is contemplating a possible appeal. "The main defense/argument in the case is that it didn't happen," Oliveri told Livermore Vine.
The case against the private golf coach, who operated Sonny Kim Golf Academy and taught hundreds of students including youth at local courses such as the Tri-Valley Golf Center and Dublin Ranch Golf Course, came to light publicly when the then-52-year-old was arrested by Dublin Police Services in February 2018.
Police said at the time that the girl told a school official she was being abused by her golf instructor, and the official subsequently reported the abuse to police and informed her parents.
According to prosecutors, the victim testified that Kim used the access of teaching her in both group and individual lessons, as well as from driving her to and from practices, to sexually abuse her between November 2014 until February 2018.
The jury also heard from two other people who said Kim touched them inappropriately years ago, according to Oliveri. The defense attorney questioned the veracity of those other witnesses, arguing, "There was no 'corroborating evidence' against Mr. Kim. No other witnesses or documents or photographs or texts or emails, or anything. This was a classic 'he-said, she said.'"
"The law in this area is very unfair and unequal to the defendant," Oliveri said. "The government is allowed to bring in witnesses/alleged victims, even though the defendant was never charged with crimes against these other alleged victims, and the government is allowed to 'pile on' the alleged victims … with a lesser burden of proof pertaining to the 'uncharged persons.'"
Deliberations began last Thursday after closing arguments and continued until the jury rendered its verdict on Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, according to the DA's office.
Kim was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a minor. The jury acquitted the defendant on the charge of sexual penetration by foreign object, prosecutors said.
Kim, who had been out of custody during the trial, is now incarcerated in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin upon his felony conviction. He faces between six and 18 years in state prison under California law when he is sentenced on Sept. 28, according to prosecutors.
