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Randolph Haldeman, the Menlo Park man facing 20 sexual assault charges for allegedly molesting several children, pleaded not guilty at a brief hearing on Monday, Sept. 9, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
At the same hearing, Haldeman, 59, declined to pursue a change in bail from $5 million as he had previously intended, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 5 in San Mateo County Superior Court.
Haldeman was initially arrested on July 25 on two counts of “lewd and lascivious acts” with boys ranging in age from 8 to 13 years; the alleged assaults took place at his home and at the Ladera Recreation Center. He was released on bail hours later.
After the arrest was reported, eight more individuals came forward to report being sexually assaulted by Haldeman and he was re-arrested on Aug. 21, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
Although the Sheriff’s Office said at the time of his arrest that Haldeman was a swim team photographer at the Ladera center, several people connected with the center have challenged that characterization, and Wagstaffe on Aug. 26 confirmed that Haldeman was only a parent volunteer rather than an employee of the center.
An official at the Ladera Recreation Center declined to comment on Haldeman’s role at the center when contacted by The Almanac.
Several of the molestations occurred after the victims had consumed alcohol, and involved fondling while viewing porn, Wagstaffe said. One of the alleged assaults occurred in a bathroom at St. Denis Catholic Church in Menlo Park.
Wagstaffe said last month that nine of the children interviewed by investigators reported improper lewd touching, while another case involved soliciting a sexual act with a minor with no actual contact, which is also a felony.
The soliciting charge involved a girl, and the others involved eight boys and one girl, Wagstaffe said. The victims’ ages at the time of the alleged assaults ranged from 4 to 16 years old.
Many of the charges could result in a sentence of life in prison, he said. Haldeman’s defense attorney Charles Smith III said Haldeman plans to fight some of the charges.
On his LinkedIn page, Haldeman describes himself as a “CEO, CMO, Innovator, Mentor.” He is chief executive officer and president of Code-N, a Menlo Park-based “next-generation cloud computing company,” according to the company’s website.
Sheriff’s investigators “believe there are potentially more victims out there and encourage anyone who had any contact with the suspect, allowed him to be around their child/children, or believe anyone may have been victimized” to contact Detective Fava at 650-363-4192 or jfava@smcgov.org; or Detective Derespini at 650-363-4055 or rderespini@smcgov.org, a Sheriff’s Office press release says.
Information from Bay City News Service was used in this report.
Rick Radin writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Rick Radin writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Rick Radin writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Rick Radin writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Rick Radin writes for The Almanac, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
He is charged with many sex crimes against many different children and is suspected of more crimes. He is a danger to society and should remain locked up until the judge and jury decide on his fate.
Lets not let this monster get away.
There are some amazing stories of defense attorneys (https://www.steinandmarkuslaw.com/) getting people out of jail, who are innocent. In a case like this though, I would hate to be the defense. The depth of his sickness is astonishing and he needs to pay for these crimes.