A Gilroy magazine founder facing six counts of sex crimes
stemming from the alleged assaults of a 16-year-old girl and a
woman older than 50 had his case delayed Monday morning.
A Gilroy magazine founder facing six counts of sex crimes stemming from the alleged assaults of a 16-year-old girl and a woman older than 50 had his case delayed Monday morning.
Sunny Pappu Kavil, 42, of Gilroy, appeared at the Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas Monday morning to have his jury trial setting date scheduled for May 15. Kavil faces two counts of assault with intent to commit rape, two counts of sexual battery with restraint, child molesting and false imprisonment by violence. Kavil – who started a monthly glossy magazine featuring South Valley’s most prominent and influential businessmen and women – has pleaded not guilty to all counts and is out on $100,000 bail.
Kavil has already been through a preliminary hearing in which the prosecution presented evidence against him. At the end of the hearing, the judge ruled there was enough evidence to warrant a jury trial.
When Kavil appears on May 15, attorneys will discuss possible days for a jury trial and the judge will choose a set of dates.
Court file reveals complicated case surrounds magazine founder
Kavil has four children younger than 10 years old and a wife of 13 years who works at IBM, according to court documents from last year. Kavil’s family has been active members of the Gilroy chapter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since at least 2000, according to the court file.
“I have interviewed (Kavil) for his honesty, keeping the Ten Commandments and I can swear that he can be trusted for what he says,” wrote Ben Griffin, who was Kavil’s bishop from 2000-’03, in a character reference. “He honors his marriage covenants to his wife and children. Sunny Kavil is a good man.”
Kavil came to the fore in Gilroy recently due launching a monthly magazine called the Gavilan Post earlier this month. Kavil’s first issue featured Mayor Al Pinheiro on the cover.
“If I had known this beforehand, I probably would have been very cautious to get involved with somebody that has something like this hanging over their head,” Pinheiro said. “If somebody comes and asks me for an interview, I don’t normally go into a background review.”
Kavil refused to answer questions about the content or format of his magazine. He also would not comment on how the current charges against him in court might affect his business.
According to court documents, on May 19, 2007, a then-16-year-old girl was working at Sunnyline Clothing, a store owned by Kavil in the city of Pacific Grove, near Monterey. Though the girl had only been working in the store two days, she had on multiple occasions felt uncomfortable with Kavil, Pacific Grove police officer Angelo DeMarco testified in a preliminary hearing held Nov. 5, 2007.
“Mr. Kavil, in the short time that she worked there, had given her free underwear, and told her to go ahead and take it home, that she didn’t have to pay for it,” he said. “When she returned to work, Mr. Kavil asked her how the underwear looked or felt on her.”
According to police, Kavil and the girl were alone in the store about 6 p.m. May 19, 2007, unloading a van full of clothing when the girl remarked that one of the skirts was “cute.”
“At that point, he mentioned something to her that she should try some of the clothing on,” White said.
She tried it on in a dressing room, but did not show him, White testified. When she was finished, he insisted she show him the clothing, and she did so “reluctantly,” White said. When she was finished, Kavil handed her another piece of clothing, White said.
“It was described as a see-through type of top that she even mentioned that she felt was rather revealing,” he said.
The girl acquiesced, putting the top on over her shirt, White said.
About an hour after unloading the van, Kavil told the girl he needed to show her how to turn off the lights using the electrical breaker box, police said. She went into a back room, went up to the breaker box and Kavil stood behind her.
He then grabbed her across the chest and waist, pressing his hips up against her and reaching up under her sweatshirt and shirt, police said. Despite her pleading for him to stop, he made several remarks about his arousal and, during the course of the incident, he turned off the lights, police said. The girl said she heard him unzipping his pants, police added.
The girl managed to get out of Kavil’s grasp, grab her purse and run out of the store and the building, police said. She then called her mom, who called police and picked up the sobbing girl from a nearby parking lot.
Kavil was arrested three days later by Pacific Grove police.
The defense called into question the verity of the girl’s accusations by pointing to her past accusations of sexual assault. At Friday’s court appearance, Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan approved a discovery motion from the defense granting access to prior accusations of sexual assault filed by the girl.
According to the motion filed by defense attorney Eugene Martinez, the girl filed sexual assault reports in Kern County after supposedly being raped three to four times by her brother and stepbrother. She also filed a sexual assault report with the Salinas Police Department that was investigated. However, no one was arrested and the case was closed, according to the motion.
In addition, the girl quit her job at Longs Drugs previous to being hired at Sunnyline Clothing because she had been harassed and touched inappropriately by male co-workers, the motion continued.
During the interviews, White said the girl remarked, “I don’t know how I keep getting these problems.”
The defense also called into question the truthfulness of accusations made by the woman older than 50, a former employee who came forward about one month after Kavil’s arrest. Her allegations are the basis of one count of sexual battery and one count of assault with intent to commit rape. The woman said the only person she told about the attack previous to talking to police was her bishop at the Gilroy Church of Latter-Day Saints, which she also attends.
The woman, whose husband was in jail, said that Kavil came to her house in late 2006, at his request, to speak about business, police said. When he went to leave, she gave him a hug – something she customarily did to say goodbye to friends – police said. He then grabbed her and pressed himself against her. He also grabbed her crotch and breasts and tried to kiss her.
“He said something to the effect of, ‘You need to have sex, and I’m going to give it to you,'” White said.
The woman pushed him away and told him to go, which he did, police said.
During the Nov. 5, 2007 preliminary hearing, the defense called Nancy Whitmore, who was the woman’s neighbor, a former friend and a co-worker at Kavil’s shop. Whitmore testified that the woman was angry because she was fired from Kavil’s shop. Whitmore called the woman “vindictive.”
“She can be very honest at times,” she said. “If she doesn’t like something or if she doesn’t like something that someone does to her, she does everything she can to get back at them for whatever reason.”
Kavil is next scheduled to be in court May 15, 2008. He refused comment about the case outside the courtroom.
In the magazine, the interview featured Pinheiro’s thoughts on the downtown revival, cultural center and future of business in the city.
However, at the time of the interview, Pinheiro said he did not know that Kavil was facing six sex crime charges.
“I was hoping it was going to be a very positive thing for Gilroy to have another magazine,” Pinheiro said. The charges against Kavil “just puts a cloud over it.”
