Todd Thomas wasn’t happy when Fresno County Superior Court Judge Adolfo Corona sentenced his daughter’s attacker to a no-jail sentence in 2017.
Thomas had pleaded with Corona to sentence Hugo Rabson, then 43, to prison for requesting and receiving nude photos of his 14-year-old daughter. But Corona gave Rabson a three-year probation sentence, which infuriated Thomas at the time.
On Monday, Corona, who has since retired, was charged by county prosecutors with sexual assault and sexual penetration by fear or force. Prosecutors said the incident happened March 14. Corona retired in April. No further details about the case were immediately available.
“I’m not at all surprised that this judge is pro-predator,” Thomas told the Times in an interview. “I think the county owes my family a lot, but I don’t think we’ll ever see it.”
Corona faces at least eight years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and his bail has been set at $70,000. The case is currently before a Tulare County judge.
Former Fresno County Superior Court Judge Adolfo Corona, pictured in 2005, has been charged with sexual assault.
(Fresno Bee)
Corona was appointed to the position in 2003 by then-Governor Gray Davis.
Thomas’ daughter’s case made headlines when Thomas posed as his daughter in a series of messages to the sexual predator, arranged to meet him at a Clovis park and captured him in a citizen’s arrest. Thomas posted his citizen’s arrest on Facebook, and police arrested Rabson that day.
After Rabson pleaded not guilty to lewd acts with a minor, Corona ordered him to register as a sex offender, but declined to require Rabson to wear a GPS ankle bracelet while he served his three-year probation.
“I wasn’t impressed. The fact that they were going to give this guy three years of probation. I thought they were being too lenient. How do I tell the next father to trust the system?” Thomas asked.
Rabson completed his probation in 2021 and is a registered sex offender.
After his daughter’s case was closed, Thomas started a nonprofit called Fathership. The group helps men dealing with issues such as anger management and domestic violence.
“This case inspired me to create something to help my community of men in today’s world,” Thomas said.
