Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 03/19/08

Contact person(s):

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

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

FORMER DJ RON KIRK KUHLMEYER
PLEADS GUILTY TO LEWD ACTS WITH A CHILD

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced that on March 18, 2008, Ron Kirk Kuhlmeyer, 49, a former local radio personality known as “Ron Kirk”, pled guilty to engaging in three or more acts of lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under the age of fourteen, over a time period of not less than three months, a violation of Penal Code section 288.5(a).

The charges involve conduct that occurred on an almost weekly basis from July 2004 through September 2007. Mr. Kuhlmeyer, a Santa Rosa resident, invited his daughter’s friend, who was eleven years old when the conduct began, to sit on his lap as he used his home computer. Over time he began to tickle, caress, and fondle the young girl, in time using obscene and sexually explicit language.

The District Attorney’s Office filed numerous felony charges alleging lewd or lascivious conduct against Mr. Kuhleyer for all of the inappropriate acts with this minor. Mr. Kuhlmeyer pled guilty to the most serious charge, which encompasses a course of continuous sexual abuse of the young victim. The remaining counts were dismissed as part of the negotiated disposition, however the court may take that conduct into account for the purpose of sentencing. No promises were made regarding Mr. Kuhlmeyer’s sentence at the time of the plea. He faces a maximum sentence of sixteen years in state prison.

Mr. Kuhlmeyer will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life under Penal Code section 290. Mr. Kuhlmeyer is scheduled to be sentenced on May 23, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 1.

The case was handled by Deputy District Attorney Daniel Cohan. Santa Rosa Police Detective Leslie Armbright was the lead detective.