JEAN BERLINGHOFF - 15 yo (2010) - Redding CA

Ten hours after her 31-day disappearance with her uncle ended, a
Redding teen told a detective that her father forced her to drink
alcohol and fondled her as punishment in fall 2008.

The 15-year-old girl told Shasta County sheriff’s Detective Brian
Jackson that her father, Jacob Daniel Berlinghoff, 33, of Redding, put
his hand on her thigh and up her shirt after ordering her to drink until
she nearly passed out, court records show. The teen said the incident
was one of the reasons she ran away.

“The victim told me she did not want to go to ‘the law’ when it
occurred but the incident played a part with her wanting to leave,”
Jackson wrote in a report he filed Dec. 15.

Jacob Berlinghoff is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 31 on one felony
count of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child under 14, as well as
misdemeanor counts of annoying a child and sexual battery. He is out on
bail.

Jacob Berlinghoff appeared twice on national television, once while
his daughter was missing to appeal for her safe return and once after
she was found.

He declined an interview request with the Record Searchlight on Thursday afternoon, saying he was sorting things out.

“I have no comment at this point,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

The teen first told Jackson of the accusations against her father
during an interview just after midnight Dec. 12 at the Mission Station
of the San Francisco Police Department.

At 2 p.m. Dec. 11, a cousin of the teen spotted had her and her uncle
walking down a Mission District street and called 911, prompting the
arrest of a.inline_topic:hover { background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); }

Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, on charges he kept the teen from her parents.

While telling detectives of her whereabouts during her 31 days
missing, the teen revealed details about the alleged assault by her
father. Jackson wrote that the teen said it was when she was 13 and was
suspended from school after being caught with alcohol at school.

Along with giving her alcohol to drink as punishment, the teen said
her father threatened to shave her head but never did. Jackson’s report
doesn’t detail what kind of alcohol or how much the teen says she drank.

The teen did tell Jackson that she drank so much that she nearly
passed out, according to his report. The teen told Jackson that her
father then asked her to come to the couch, where she lay down. Once she
was on the couch she said her father put his hand up her shirt,
touching her left breast, and touched the inside of her thigh.

“The victim stated that (Jacob) Berlinghoff told her that this was what happens when you get drunk,” Jackson wrote.

The teen told Jackson that it was the only time her father touched her sexually, according to his report.

Jackson wrote that he asked Jacob Berlinghoff about the accusations
at 5:15 p.m. Dec. 14 and he said he’d never touched his daughter. He
said he remembered punishing her in September 2008 after she was caught
with alcohol at school and suspended. He said he poured out all the
alcohol in the house, didn’t force the teen to drink and didn’t touch
her.

He told Jackson that in early 2009 the teen got in trouble for
smoking marijuana in the house and that is when she first accused him of
getting her drunk and molesting her in fall 2008.

In addition to talking to the teen and her father about the incident,
Jackson said he interviewed the girl’s mother, Heather Vega, 33; Anna
Ramirez, one of Jacob Berlinghoff’s ex-wives; and the teen’s sister.

He wrote that Vega told him that she wasn’t sure if her daughter was
making up the report of the assault after getting in trouble.

“Vega told me she was just trying to handle the situation with the
family and since the victim told Vega about the incident ‘so late,’ she
was hesitant to report it,” Jackson wrote. The teen told Jackson that
she waited months to tell her mother about the reported assault and did
so only after she told a friend, who urged her to tell her mother.

Vega did not immediately return voice mails from the Record
Searchlight on Thursday afternoon. Vega, whose marriage with Jacob
Berlinghoff was annulled in the 1990s, has said she’s been taking care
of the teen since she was found.

Ramirez said that while she was getting a divorce from Jacob
Berlinghoff in fall 2008, she was close to the teen, Jackson wrote.
Ramirez told him that the teen told her about the reported assault
shortly after it happened and that the teen said she’d already told her
mother about it.

Jackson wrote that Ramirez was upset during their telephone interview Dec. 16.

“I could hear that she was sobbing over the telephone about not acting on what was reported to her in 2008.”



Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, the teen’s uncle, faces nearly 100
felony charges, including 30 counts of lewd acts with a minor, 30 counts
of incest and 15 counts of oral copulation. He pleaded not guilty to
the charges Wednesday and remained at the Shasta County jail today in
lieu of $1.6 million bail. He’s scheduled to be in court Wednesday.

In a report separate from Jackson’s, sheriff’s detective Mark Haslam
wrote that the teen told him that she had a sexual relationship with her
uncle.

“I love him, more than an uncle,” the teen told Haslam.

A Northern California man who appealed for his missing teenage daughter's return on national television has pleaded not guilty to molesting her.
The Redding Searchlight reports that 33-year-old Jacob Berlinghoff of
Redding entered not guilty pleas Monday to a felony count of lewd and
lascivious behavior with a child under 14 and misdemeanor counts of
annoying a child and sexual battery. He is free on $50,000 bail.
The newspaper reports that shortly after the 15-year-old girl
returned from a 31-day disappearance with her uncle last year, she
accused her father of fondling her.
She said the 2008 incident was one of the reasons she fled.
Her uncle, 44-year-old Charles Berlinghoff, is facing nearly 100 sex
abuse charges involving the teen. He remains jailed on $1.6 million
bail.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/31/state/n165420S65.DTL#ixzz1Cfyp2Cpc

A high-profile Redding defense attorney is no longer defending the
father of a Redding teen who went missing for a month last year.

Eric Berg said this morning that he has a conflict of interest and can't defend
Jacob Daniel Berlinghoff, 33, who is accused of fondling the teen in 2008. Berg first appeared as
Berlinghoff's attorney Jan. 31, when Berlinghoff pleaded not guilty to
one felony count of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child under 14,
as well as misdemeanor counts of annoying a child and sexual battery.

When retired Superior Court Judge Richard McEachen asked what the
conflict was, Berg said one of the witnesses in the case was one of his former clients.

Berlinghoff is now set to be represented by a public defender and is due in court March 3.

Berlinghoff declined to comment. Berg did not return messages left at his office throughout Monday.

Jacob Berlinghoff's daughter went missing from Nov. 10 to Dec. 11.

During that time she traveled to Oregon and the San Francisco Bay Area with her uncle
Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, of San Bernardino. Charles Berlinghoff faces nearly 100 felony
charges for allegedly having sex with the teen during her disappearance.

Charles Berlinghoff also is being represented by the Shasta County public defender's office.

While the teen's name was widely publicized while she was gone, the
Record Searchlight has withheld it since learning the nature of the
charges against her uncle. The newspaper doesn't report the names of
reported victims of sex crimes. Charles Berlinghoff is due in court Thursday.

Jacob Berlinghoff appeared twice on national television as a result
of his daughter's disappearance, once while she was missing and once
after she was found in San Francisco. A cousin spotted the teen and her
uncle walking near a crowded shopping center in the city's Mission District.

After removing himself as Jacob Berlinghoff's attorney, Berg asked to
speak as a "friend of the court," to the Shasta County assistant
district attorney Brian Popkes and McEachen about the case.

Popkes and McEachen declined the offer.

"I don't feel very friendly," McEachen said.
http://www.redding.com/news/2011/feb/14/conflict-of-interestin-berlinghoff-case/

Charles Berlinghoff was ordered today to stand trial.

Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, of San Bernardino, is accused of felony unlawful detention of a
minor, 10 felony counts of providing lewd material to a minor, one
felony count of arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, 30
felony counts of lewd acts with a minor, 30 felony counts of incest, 15
felony counts of oral copulation and delinquency of a minor. He is due
back in court on March 7.

Charles Berlinghoff could be sentenced to more than 40 years in prison if convicted.

His niece was 15 when the two started a sexual relationship, Shasta
County Sheriff’s detective Brian Jackson testified today at a
preliminary hearing in Shasta County District Court.

Interviewed after disappearing with her uncle from Nov. 10 until Dec.
11, the teen told Jackson that she had feelings for her uncle “more
than in just a familial way,” Jackson said.

The teen told him that she and her uncle first revealed their
feelings for each other on Sept. 26 and kissed while in a parked car,
Jackson said. A couple of days later she said they had sex for the first
time. Jackson said it was a sexual relationship that continued during
Charles Berlinghoff’s visits to the north state from Southern California
and into the time the two traveled to Portland, Ore., and then to San
Francisco together.

Jackson said the teen didn’t keep a diary of how many times they had sex, but “she estimated 20 to 30 times.”

Charles Berlinghoff and the teen sent sexual, sometimes explicit,
text messages to each other between Nov. 1 and Nov. 10, Shasta County
Sheriff’s detective Mark Haslam, testified. He said the uncle and niece
had a “boyfriend, girlfriend-type,” relationship.

Reading from 31 pages of text messages, Haslam said Charles
Berlinghoff called the teen “sweet pea,” a “beautiful hottie,” and his
“amazing girlfriend.”

In one text exchange on Nov. 2, Haslam said Charles Berlinghoff and
the teen arranged how he’d enter through a back door of her east Redding
home to meet with her.

Jackson said Charles Berlinghoff had an argument with the teen’s
father, Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, of Redding, the morning he and the teen
left. The argument centered on his staying out late with the teen and
“suspicious text messages” between the two, Jackson said.

Charles Berlinghoff and the teen weren’t seen or heard from between
Nov. 10 and Dec. 11, when one of the teen’s cousin’s spotted them
walking on a street in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Once they were found, Charles Berlinghoff and the teen gave San Francisco police officers false names, Jackson said.

Photo at link:
http://www.redding.com/news/2011/feb/22/charles-berlinghoff-stand-trial-allegedly-keeping/

Charles Berlinghoff giving his public defender the silent treatment

• Posted May 16, 2011 at 4:23 p.m., updated May 16, 2011 at 4:23 p.m.
  

Charles Berlinghoff

Charles David Berlinghoff is giving his public defender the silent treatment.

As such, it's making it difficult for the attorney to represent him.

“He won’t talk,” Senior Deputy Public Defender Max Ruffcorn Sr., said following a court hearing today for his quiet client. In addition, Berlinghoff won’t speak with a public defender’s office investigator on the case.

“It (his silence) makes it tough” to defend him, Ruffcorn said.

Berlinghoff, who appeared briefly in court this afternoon for a settlement conference, saw his Aug. 2 trial date confirmed by Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle, as well as his July 29 trial readiness conference date.

The 44-year-old Berlinghoff is accused of having repeated sex with his now 16-year-old Redding niece and keeping her away from her parents for a month late last year in a case that generated extensive local, as well as national media, coverage.

Berlinghoff, a San Bernardino resident who once lived in Red Bluff, allegedly started a sexual relationship with his teenage niece last fall and faces about 40 years in prison if he’s convicted of all the charges against him. He had earlier rejected a plea bargain calling for a 15-year prison sentence. There is no plea bargain offer now on the table.

He’s accused of felony unlawful detention of a minor, 10 felony counts of providing lewd material to a minor, one felony count of arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a minor, 30 felony counts of incest, 15 felony counts of oral copulation and delinquency of a minor.

Berlinghoff remains in Shasta County jail in lieu of $1.6 million bail.

Meanwhile, Curle ordered last week Berlinghoff’s brother,

Jacob Daniel Berlinghoff, 33, to stand trial on charges that he fondled 16-year-old daughter three years ago.

Jacob Berlinghoff, who is scheduled to begin standing trial on July 20, is charged with a single felony count alleging lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14, as well as annoying or molesting a child and sexual battery, both misdemeanors.

He faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted at trial.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/may/16/charles-berlinghoff-giving-his-public-defender-sil/

New venue sought for trial
Berlinghoff isn't talking with attorney
Posted August 1, 2011 at 11:46 p.m.
Charles David Berlinghoff's defense attorney said Monday he will file a motion to have his client's upcoming sex-crime trial moved to another county because of all the publicity the case has received.

Max Ruffcorn Sr., senior public defender, told Shasta County Superior Court Judge Bradley Boeckman, who is assigned to preside over Berlinghoff's trial next week, that he will file a change-of-venue motion this week.

Charged with almost 100 felony counts, Berlinghoff, 45, is accused of repeatedly having sex with his then-15-year-old niece and keeping her away from her parents for a month late last year.

He is due to begin trial Aug. 9.
Boeckman said during the pretrial conference that he's likely to conditionally deny Ruffcorn's change-of-venue motion, saying he would reconsider it if it becomes clear during jury selection that a fair and impartial jury cannot be impaneled.

Two panels of 62 prospective jurors each are being summoned for the trial.

They are to undergo a pre-screening process to determine if they have knowledge of the high-profile case and if they have prejudged it.

Berlinghoff did not attend the informal pretrial conference, during which Boeckman discussed a variety of issues with Ruffcorn and Curtis Woods, deputy district attorney.

For example, Ruffcorn told Boeckman that his client continues to refuse to help him try to mount a defense and he's not sure if Berlinghoff will even want to attend the trial.

"He will not talk to me," Ruffcorn said, telling Boeckman his client believes his constitutional rights have been violated. "He may choose not to participate at all."

In February, Berlinghoff said he wanted to fire Ruffcorn and represent himself, but he refused to sign a form, called a Faretta waiver, to defend himself.

He also refused to answer questions posed to him by Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle to determine if he was capable of defending himself.

At that hearing, Berlinghoff complained that his constitutional rights were being violated and the form he was asked to sign to defend himself was a contract with the county that took away his rights.

"I do not agree with that form," Berlinghoff said at that hearing. " ... I do not feel I'm getting equal representation."

Last Friday, Berlinghoff lost a bid to have his trial continued because he claimed family members were trying to hire an out-of-area attorney to represent him.

Superior Court Judge James Ruggiero denied Berlinghoff's continuance request during a trial readiness conference because it was untimely, but his denial allows Berlinghoff to try again.

It's not known if that attorney issue may be resurrected next week.

"I guess we'll find out on the 9th," Boeckman said.

It's estimated the trial will take four to six days, including jury selection.

Woods said last week that he has about a dozen people on his witness list who may testify at the trial, while Ruffcorn said Monday he has no defense witnesses. In fact, he said, he doesn't have a defense because his client has been unwilling to talk to him about the case.

"There's no defense to the charges," he told Boeckman.

Among those on the prosecution's witness list is Berlinghoff's niece, now 16.

Although the girl's name was widely reported while she was missing last year, the Record Searchlight is now withholding her identity because it has been alleged she is the victim of sex crimes.

Berlinghoff, a San Bernardino resident who once lived in Red Bluff, allegedly started a sexual relationship with his niece last fall.

If convicted of the charges against him, he faces about 40 years in prison.

Berlinghoff earlier had rejected a plea bargain that included a 15-year prison sentence.

Berlinghoff is accused of felony unlawful detention of a minor, 10 felony counts of providing lewd material to a minor, one felony count of arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a minor, 30 felony counts of incest, 15 felony counts of oral copulation and delinquency of a minor.

He remains in the Shasta County jail with bail set at $1.6 million.

Meanwhile, Berlinghoff's brother, Jacob Daniel Berlinghoff, 34, is still scheduled for trial Sept. 20 on charges he fondled his daughter about three years ago.
He is charged with a felony count alleging lewd and lascivious conduct with a child younger than 14 as well as annoying or molesting a child and sexual battery, both misdemeanors.

His daughter's allegations surfaced after she and her uncle were found in San Francisco.

He faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/01/new-venue-sought-for-trial/

Charles Berlinghoff granted trial continuance; defendant says twin sister trying to hire attorney
By Jim Schultz
Posted August 9, 2011 at 10:56 p.m

Charles David Berlinghoff, who was due to stand trial Tuesday on 87 criminal counts in connection with the disappearance of his niece last year, was granted a continuance so family members can try to hire a private attorney for him.



The sex crime trial of Charles David Berlinghoff was stopped Tuesday only moments before jury selection was to begin in Shasta County Superior Court.

Berlinghoff, who is accused of disappearing from Redding with his teenage niece for a month late last year and having repeated sex with her, was granted a trial continuance after telling Superior Court Judge Bradley Boeckman that family members are trying to hire a new defense attorney for him.

Boeckman reluctantly granted the eleventh-hour reprieve but also ordered Berlinghoff to fully cooperate with his senior public defender should that effort to hire a private lawyer fail.

"It is incumbent upon you to be available" and forthcoming, Boeckman said. "Work out any issues you have in the form of communication."

Boeckman, who earlier rejected Berlinghoff's request to dump senior public defender Max Ruffcorn Sr. during a half-hour closed courtroom hearing, agreed to postpone the trial.

He did so after it was learned that Berlinghoff's twin sister in Florida, identified as Della Tavolazzi, was trying to hire Redding defense attorney Rob Hammonds to represent her brother.

Hammonds, who was summoned to court by Boeckman, said he spoke last week to Berlinghoff's sister after she was referred to him by Ricky Bennett, the president of the Shasta County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

But, Hammonds said, although she expressed some interest in hiring him, he hasn't spoken with her since then and was unsure if she's still wants to try to hire him.

"I would be interested in looking at the case," Hammonds said.

He also said he has not met or spoken with Berlinghoff about his sex crime case.

Ruffcorn has had the same problem for months, saying Berlinghoff refuses to talk with him.

Although it's not clear if Hammonds will be retained, Boeckman said it would be "somewhat risky" to deny the continuance request, although it came on the day of the trial.

"This motion is beyond untimely,"' he said, adding that he believes a rejection of the continuance request would likely be upheld on appeal.

"But I'm not clairvoyant," he said.

In addition, he said, he wanted to avoid any chance that Berlinghoff's niece would have to testify at two trials.

Curtis Woods, deputy district attorney, said after court that he also wanted to avoid having to retry the case and save the 16-year-old girl the burden of having to testify more than once.

"That is paramount to me," he said.

The case is being sent back to Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle, who may schedule a new trial date Monday.

The trial continuance rendered moot, at least for the time being, a change-of-venue motion filed last week by the Shasta County public defender's office asks that the trial be moved outside the county.

The change-of-venue motion argued that the case has become "local lore" and that Berlinghoff cannot get a fair trial in Shasta County because of extensive pretrial publicity.

Berlinghoff, 45, is charged with 87 felony counts, including felony unlawful detention of a minor, incest and lewd acts with a minor.

He faces about 40 years in prison if convicted.

A San Bernardino resident who once lived in Red Bluff, Berlinghoff allegedly started a sexual relationship with his niece last fall.

Although the girl's name was widely reported while she was missing last year, the Record Searchlight is now withholding her identity because it has been alleged she is the victim of sex crimes.

Berlinghoff remains in custody at Shasta County jail in lieu of $1.6 million bail.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/09/berlinghoff-is-granted-trial-continuance/

Father's trial put off until January; Redding man accused of fondling
By Jim Schultz
Posted September 16, 2011 at 11:56 p.m.

The criminal trial for a Redding man accused of fondling his then-13-year-old daughter three years ago was put off Friday in Shasta County Superior Court until Jan. 24.

Jacob Berlinghoff, 34, who was scheduled to begin trial next week, saw his case delayed until next year because the prosecutor will be in another trial that takes precedence because the case is older.

Berlinghoff's daughter, now 16, has accused him of forcing her to drink hard liquor and touching her bare breast under her shirt, as well as her inner thigh, as punishment for bringing alcohol to school in September 2008.

He faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted. He has twice rejected a plea bargain that offered a stipulated three-year prison sentence with the potential for three additional years.

The girl, who is not being named because she's an alleged sexual assault victim, lodged her allegations after she and her uncle, Charles Berlinghoff, were found in San Francisco last year following their highly publicized monthlong disappearance.

Charles Berlinghoff, 45, was arrested on suspicion of repeatedly having sex with her and keeping her away from her parents for a month in late 2010.

He is charged with 87 felony counts, including unlawful detention of a minor, incest and lewd acts with a minor, and is scheduled to begin standing trial on Jan. 10. He faces about 40 years in prison if tried and convicted. He recently filed a federal lawsuit against his senior deputy public defender and the Shasta County public defender's office, claiming professional negligence and legal malpractice.

Charles Berlinghoff, who is representing himself in his lawsuit, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/sep/16/fathers-trial-put-off-until-january/

Charles Berlinghoff found dead in cell; suspected felon apparently hanged self at Shasta County jail
By Sean Longoria, Jim Schultz
Posted November 5, 2011 at 7:56 p.m.

Charles David Berlinghoff was found hanged in his Shasta County jail cell early Saturday morning, the apparent victim of a suicide, Redding police said.

Berlinghoff, 45, accused of disappearing from Redding and having repeated sex with his now 16-year-old niece for a month late last year, was charged with 87 felony counts, including felony unlawful detention of a minor, incest and lewd acts with a minor.

Police said a corrections officer at the jail was doing an hourly check at 12:12 a.m. Saturday and found Berlinghoff hanging from a bed sheet in his cell. Berlinghoff was the only person in the locked cell at the time, Redding police Sgt. Brian Barner said.

Jail medics attempted to revive Berlinghoff, who was taken to a Redding hospital and pronounced dead, Barner said.

Redding police were named lead investigators in the hanging under Shasta County's interagency, officer-involved critical incident protocol, Barner said.

A jail receptionist referred all questions on the hanging to Redding police.

Investigators interviewed 29 inmates who had contact with Berlinghoff during the past few days, Barner said. Police were told Berlinghoff had been depressed about his current court case, although Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Saturday he had not exhibited any signs of suicidal behavior and was not under a suicide watch.

Bosenko knew of no suicide note. The investigation is continuing.

Berlinghoff's death comes only five days shy of the one-year anniversary of his well-known Nov. 10, 2010, disappearance with his niece.

Berlinghoff, who had been in custody since December 2010, was scheduled for a Jan. 10 trial in his sex-crime case.

He faced up to 40 years if convicted, Barner said.

A San Bernardino resident who once lived in Red Bluff, Berlinghoff allegedly started a sexual relationship with his niece last fall.

Although the girl's name was widely reported while she was missing last year, the Record Searchlight is now withholding her identity because it has been alleged she is the victim of sex crimes.

Berlinghoff's brother, Jacob Berlinghoff, 34, of Redding declined Saturday to discuss his brother's death.

"I have no comment right now," he said. He also said immediate family members did not want to talk about their relative's death.

Charles Berlinghoff's twin sister, who lives in Florida, did not reply to an email from the Record Searchlight seeking comment on the apparent suicide.

Jacob Berlinghoff is slated to begin standing trial Jan. 24 for allegedly fondling his then-13-year-old daughter three years ago.

His daughter accused him of forcing her to drink hard liquor and touching her bare breast under her shirt, as well as her inner thigh, as punishment for bringing alcohol to school in September 2008.

His daughter lodged her allegations against him after she and her uncle were found in San Francisco last year following their disappearance.

Jacob Berlinghoff, who faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Max Ruffcorn Sr., the Shasta County senior public defender who represented Charles Berlinghoff in his sex-crime case, could not be reached Saturday for comment about his client's death.

Charles Berlinghoff and Ruffcorn had a rocky relationship, with Berlinghoff recently filing a federal lawsuit against the attorney and the public defender's office, claiming professional negligence and legal malpractice.

In his lawsuit, Berlinghoff claimed Ruffcorn had slandered and defamed his character, and labeled his defense attorney as a "surrogate prosecutor."

He also claimed Ruffcorn had been trying to pressure him into taking a plea bargain "for crimes I am not guilty of and to which he has evidence of my innocence."

Berlinghoff, who was representing himself in his civil lawsuit, was seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Shasta County District Attorney Stephen Carlton said he learned of Berlinghoff's death late Saturday morning.

"I'm shocked," he said. "I'm just shocked. Nobody wants that kind of outcome."

But Carlton said he does not believe Berlinghoff's death will have much of an effect, if any, in the case against Jacob Berlinghoff.

"I can't see it," he said.

Deputy District Attorney Curtis Woods, who was handling both cases and learned of Berlinghoff's death around 5:30 a.m., agreed, saying the case against Jacob Berlinghoff would not be affected. "I don't see why it would," he said.

Charles Berlinghoff's suicide is the second in-custody death at the jail in two days.

Around noon on Friday, inmate Kristopher Daniel Coulombe, 33, of Redding was found unconscious in a single-occupied medical cell and was later pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

Bosenko said Coulombe's death did not appear to be a suicide. An autopsy is slated for Monday.

Coulombe was arrested Oct. 29 after a chase. He nearly ran over a California Highway Patrol officer who was on a traffic stop on Victor Avenue, officers said.

Bosenko said the sheriff's office is investigating Coulombe's death. Bosenko said he did not ask RPD to investigate because there were no signs of foul play.

Although Berlinghoff was involved in a minor jail fight with another inmate in July, Bosenko said he had no other reports of Berlinghoff causing trouble at the jail while in custody.

He did say, however, that Berlinghoff staged a three-day hunger strike after he was initially arrested and booked into jail last year.

"I don't know what he was protesting," Bosenko said.

Berlinghoff Timeline

Here’s a brief timeline of events surrounding the case of Charles Berlinghoff and his brother Jacob Berlinghoff.

Nov. 10, 2009: Berlinghoff and his now 16-year-old niece disappear from Redding.

Dec. 11, 2010: Berlinghoff and niece found safe in San Francisco.

Dec. 16, 2010: Berlinghoff arraigned in Shasta County Superior Court on series of sex charges.

Dec. 24, 2010: Jacob Berlinghoff arrested on suspicion of sexual battery and other crimes involving his daughter.

Aug: 31: Charles Berlinghoff files federal lawsuit against Senior Public Defender Max Ruffcorn Sr.

Sept 6: Jan. 10 trial date set in Shasta County Superior Court for Charles Berlinghoff.

Sept. 16: Jan. 24 trial date set in Shasta County Superior Court for Jacob Berlinghoff.

Nov. 5: Charles Berlinghoff dies in apparent suicide at Shasta County jail.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/nov/05/charles-berlinghoff-found-dead-in-cell/

Dad pleads no contest to lewd conduct; no jail time for Jacob Berlinghoff misdemeanors
By Jim Schultz
Posted December 29, 2011 at 11:24 p.m.

A Redding father whose 16-year-old daughter accused him of fondling her three years ago pleaded no contest Thursday in Shasta County Superior Court to a misdemeanor count of lewd conduct.

In exchange for his plea, a felony count alleging lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 was dismissed against Jacob Daniel Berlinghoff, 34.

Additionally, Berlinghoff pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, also a misdemeanor.

Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle, who was annoyed that he learned of the possible plea bargain in a Wednesday Record Searchlight article, accepted the pact after privately discussing it in his chambers with the attorneys involved in the case.

Berlinghoff was placed on informal probation for three years and ordered to perform 45 days of community service in an adult work program. He won't have to register as a sex offender.

Berlinghoff had faced a maximum of eight years in prison if tried and convicted of the felony. He said after court that he was comfortable with the plea bargain because he "knows the truth" and he wanted to "get my life back on track."

"It's been a long year," he said. "I think it's been a very long year for everyone."

Berlinghoff twice rejected a plea bargain earlier that offered a stipulated three-year prison sentence with the potential for three additional years.

The misdemeanor count to which Berlinghoff pleaded no contest falls under the provision of a California Penal Code covering a wide range of disorderly conduct crimes, including engaging in lewd conduct in a public place or exposed to public view.

In Berlinghoff's case, the alleged conduct was said to have occurred in the front room in his home that could have been viewed by people walking by, said Shasta County Deputy District Attorney Curtis Woods, who prosecuted the case.

Woods said he was satisfied with the disposition of the case. The alleged crime, he said, was a one-time event and that a sex act was not involved. It was clear, Woods said, that Berlinghoff would have received probation — not prison — if convicted.

Furthermore, he said, he spoke with Berlinghoff's daughter about the plea bargain offer, as well as her mother, and they did not object to it.

"They wanted to get this over, too," he said.

Proceeding to trial would have been an enormous burden on the teenager because it would have meant bringing up the criminal case against the girl's uncle, Charles David Berlinghoff, who committed suicide Nov. 5 at the Shasta County jail, Woods said.

"We would have had to rehash the Charles Berlinghoff case, and that's not what I wanted the victim to go through," Woods said.

Another factor that played into the plea deal offer was the loss of two potential prosecution witnesses, one who died and the other who was no longer cooperating, he said.

Redding defense attorney Jimmie Askew, who represented Berlinghoff, said he had mixed feelings about the plea bargain.

"I thought we had a very strong (defense) case," he said, adding that he had lined up a witnesses he believed would have strongly rebutted the district attorney's case at trial.

But, he said, his client did not want to put his 16-year-old daughter through the ordeal of a trial.

"That would have been a lot of pressure" on her, he said. "He loves his daughter."

The case that captured national media attention all began when Jacob Berlinghoff's daughter, then 15 years old, disappeared from Redding for a month on Nov. 10, 2010, with her uncle, 45-year-old Charles Berlinghoff.

They were found in San Francisco, and the elder Berlinghoff was arrested and charged with 87 felony counts, including felony unlawful detention of a minor, incest and lewd acts with a minor.

After Charles Berlinghoff's arrest, the teen brought up the sex crime allegations against her father, and he, too, was arrested.

While the girl was missing, the Record Searchlight repeatedly published her name. The newspaper no longer publishes her name because she is the alleged victim of sexual assaults.

Her uncle committed suicide by hanging himself with a bed sheet.

During Jacob Berlinghoff's preliminary hearing in May, Shasta County Sheriff's Detective Brian Jackson testified the teen told him her father forced her in September 2008 to drink hard liquor to the point of nearly passing out and then fondled her under her shirt.

Jackson said Jacob Berlinghoff reportedly also touched her inner thigh, all to discipline her after she was suspended for taking alcohol to school.

"He (Berlinghoff) said to her that this is what happens when you get drunk," Jackson testified, paraphrasing the girl's exact comments to him.

As part of the plea agreement, Jacob Berlinghoff is ordered to stay away from his daughter during the three years he's on probation.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/dec/29/dad-pleads-no-contest-to-lewd-act/