NBC 7’s Jackie Crea spoke to two of his victims who say even the possibility of him being released is emotionally exhaustive and is forcing them to relive their trauma decades later.
WARNING: This story may have disturbing details. Discretion is advised.
A parole hearing for a rapist who was convicted for the assault of seven women in Pacific Beach in the early '90s was postponed Wednesday.
Kenneth Bogard, now 66, was up for "elderly parole" after serving 30 years of a 96-year sentence due to a law that went into effect in Jan. 2021 that allows inmates who are over the age of 50 and have served at least 20 years of their sentence to be eligible for early release, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's office.
Bogard had a parole hearing scheduled for Wednesday, but it was delayed because his attorney was out sick. The date was postponed for sometime within the next six months, the DA's office announced.
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San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan opposes his release.
"The Elder Parole law that allows for early release of murderers and rapists is cruel to crime victims and is rigged to only benefit violent criminals,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement. "Our Lifer Unit will never abandon victims and we will continue to stand by them in these early parole hearings, vowing to fight releases when warranted, as we are in this serial rape case.”
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Bogard was sentenced in 1995 to 96 years in prison for 37 felony convictions, including burglary, assault, sexual battery, forced oral copulation rape and several other crimes. He is being held at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.
If he's denied parole, the Board of Parole Hearings will not set a new parole hearing for at least three years. If he is granted parole, he will not be released immediately. The governor also has the right to send the case back for additional review.
The DA's office said Bogard -- then a 36-year-old singer in a local party band -- would stalk women, sometimes for weeks, prior to attacking them inside their Pacific Beach homes. He used a knife to coerce his victims and wore a ski mask to disguise himself, the DA said. He was known to tick his victims into bed and say "goodnight" after the attacks.
Kim Caldwell survived one of the attacks in August 1993 and was scheduled to read a victim's impact statement at Wednesday's parole hearing.
She was relieved when he was finally convicted in 1995 but felt like that relief was shattered with the possibility of parole. Caldwell was so worried that the former flight attendant has traveled from her current out-of-state home back to Pacific Beach for Wednesday’s virtual parole hearing where she spoke with NBC 7.
“Kim, Kim, wake up," Caldwell whispered and remembered. "I turned around and every woman's worst nightmare: a giant knife with a jagged edge and a ski mask."
During the assault, Caldwell says her attacker talked to her like she was his girlfriend.
"He told me he loved me," Caldwell said. "He talked and talked and talked and talked as if we were in a relationship, so it was 10 times creepier to me."
When it was over, she says he tucked her into bed.
In the following days, then 32-year-old Caldwell says she got a gun and went hunting for her attacker around the streets of Pacific Beach, where she ran into police officers investigating her case.
"They were lecturing me. I said, 'Listen. If this happened to you, you would hunt him down and you would kill him. I'm just trying to find him. That's all, and then I'll call you.'"
Caldwell never found the sexual predator but police did. They used DNA evidence to link Kenneth Bogard to the crime.
Helen Toma is another one of Bogard's survivors.
"Just wearing a ski mask and red Converse shoes. I started screaming, and he came to me, put his hand over my mouth, put a knife to my throat,” she said.
Back then, Toma hated the idea of coming forward and testifying against Bogard after he was arrested. But she did anyway. She said she was also prepared to speak at a parole hearing for Bogard.
"It (expletive) pisses me off. He should've never gotten elderly parole," Toma said. "They let him out right now at 66 years old, he will reoffend."
Both Caldwell and Toma plan to be at the hearing with their impact statements.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://www.rainn.org/get-help. Confidential chats are available in English and in Spanish.
