Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 12/13/06

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

SEX OFFENDER TO BE SENT TO STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that a Sonoma County jury found Eugene John Buonaccorsi to be a sexually violent predator, as defined by state law.

The California Department of Corrections referred Buonaccorsi to the Department of Mental Health for evaluation under the Sexually Violent Predator law after he completed an 11 year prison term for convictions of committing Lewd and Lascivious Acts against Children Under the Age of 14.

Evidence was produced at the trial to establish that Buonaccorsi has a diagnosed mental disorder which predisposes him to commit sexually violent crimes; that because of the disorder he poses a substantial risk that he will commit a sexually violent predatory act in the future if released into the community; and that it is necessary for the protection of others to confine him.

In 1988 Buonaccorsi was convicted of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 and later sent to prison for six years for that offense. In 1994 he was again convicted of a lewd and lascivious act on a child and received the 11 year prison sentence which he recently completed.

Buonaccorsi will be committed to a state mental hospital for an indeterminate term. He will be offered sex offender treatment and remain hospitalized until such time that he is no longer considered to be a sexually violent predator.

Deputy District Attorney Anne Masterson was the assigned prosecutor on this case.