Griesa sentenced to 270 days in jail, probation for sex texts

Former Marysville towing company manager Joseph Patrick Griesa was sentenced Friday in Yuba County Superior Court to 270 days in jail and five years on probation in connection with charges involving a 17-year-old girl who worked for him.

Judge Ersel L. Edwards ordered Griesa, convicted by a jury last year on a misdemeanor charge of sending sexual text messages to the girl, to register as a sex offender.

Griesa's Sacramento attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld, said he will appeal parts of the sentence, particularly the order to register as a sex offender, which he called a violation of Griesa's "equal protection" rights.

Edwards ordered Griesa to report to jail by Sept. 14. Rosenfeld said Griesa is applying for the jail's work furlough program, which would allow him to keep his job and spend nights in jail.

Griesa lost his job with Mitchell's Towing Service, which is owned by his family, and now works for Yuba-Sutter Telephone Co. of Yuba City, according to a motion filed by Rosenfeld.

The jury deadlocked on more serious felony charges, voting 11-1 in favor of convicting Griesa of sexually and physically assaulting the girl in his office at the towing company.

The District Attorney's Office said Griesa would be retried on the felony charges, but changed course in June and agreed he would be sentenced on the lesser charges. He was also convicted on felony charges of concealing two runaway teenage girls from their parents, and on felony charges of failing to pay unemployment insurance taxes for girls who worked at Mitchell's Towing Service.

Edwards reduced the two concealment charges to misdemeanors.

The victim, now 20, tearfully told the judge that her experience with Griesa had changed her life. She also said she felt abandoned by the District Attorney's Office.

"After being expected to testify for the District Attorney's Office for months, on the date of the retrial, (the office) dismissed the case without any explanation or justification. The prosecutor that dismissed the case failed to return telephone calls from my family to explain why he dismissed the charges," the woman said in a press release. The Appeal-Democrat is not identifying her due to the sexual nature of the charges.

The prosecutor, John Vacek, did not comment on the sentence.

Rosenfeld said in an interview he would have subjected the woman to a lengthy cross-examination about her relationship with Griesa — "the longest two days of her life." He pointed to records of what he said were 700 cell phone calls between her and Griesa, including calls in which she said she loved Griesa.

In a court document, Rosenfeld said the girl deleted her calls to Griesa, leaving authorities only with incriminating calls from Griesa to her.

Griesa's trial attorney, Chuck Smith of Redwood City, failed to take advantage of the cell phone records, Rosenfeld said.

In her lengthy statement to the court, the girl repeated parts of her trial testimony, including allegations that Griesa masturbated in front of her while a pornographic movie played in his office and hit her when she refused to perform oral sex. Griesa took a gun from his desk and displayed it in a threatening manner, saying something could happen to her or her family if she told anyone what was going on, she said.

"I also felt that there was something wrong with him and that he was dangerous," she said.

Edwards told the girl he sympathized with her, but could only sentence Griesa on the convictions. He told Griesa he took advantage of young girls who depended on him for their income and exercised his authority over them "shabbily."

It's "absolutely clear" that Griesa's behavior was "reprehensible," Edwards said.

Griesa reached over the rail from the defense table and held his wife's hand before the hearing began. His two teenage sons also attended.

The victim and another woman who testified about alleged sexual abuse by Griesa are both suing him in Sutter County Superior Court.

As a probationer, Griesa will be subject to searches by officers at any time.

In a motion, Rosenfeld objected to what he called "onerous" conditions Griesa must comply with as a registered sex offender, including having his computer searched by a probation officer and not associating with anyone under 18 unless another adult is present who knows about Griesa's offense.

"Saucy text messages — that's it," Rosenfeld said about the conviction.

CONTACT Rob Young at749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.