Convicted rapist Kenneth Bogard has a parole hearing Wednesday. NBC 7’s Omari Fleming talked to one of his survivors who is outraged over his possible early release.
As Kim Caldwell proofread her victim's impact statement, she shared with NBC 7 the moment in August of 1993, when she thought she was being awakened by the whispers of her boyfriend, only to find the man dubbed the "Pacific Beach Rapist" had entered her home on Oliver Avenue.
“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."
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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.'"
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Caldwell never found the sexual predator but police did. They used DNA evidence to link Kenneth Bogard to the crime.
In 1995, Bogard, a 36-year-old singer in a local party band, was convicted of 37 felonies, including burglary, assault and rape. Caldwell was visibly relieved outside the courtroom, where he was sentenced to more than 96 years in prison.
"I just remember thinking, 'I'm done. That's it. I put it to bed. Done.' And it was the best feeling, really. And I was able to finally move on to put it behind me," Caldwell said.
Nearly 30 years later, that sense of relief has been shattered. The now 66-year-old Bogard is up for parole, a second time, after serving only 30 years in prison.
It's because of what's called "elderly parole." It allows for early release of murderers and rapists over the age of 50 who have served at least 20 years of their sentence. People who are 60 have to serve at least 25.
“Why? What kind of dystopian society do we live in? To just let him out, back to reoffend new, young, more, another generation. I'm very worried about it," Caldwell said.
Caldwell is 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.
She says she wants her rapist to see the ocean over her shoulder and to show him the freedom he's missing.
She’s also vowing to keep sharing her story.
“I will not stop. I will not stop," Caldwell said.
Bogard is being held at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. His parole hearing was scheduled for Wednesday but has been postponed for sometime within six months.
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.
