Keith Willette

Proving she no longer intends to be known as a “victim,” a young woman stood up in Superior Court in Placerville Tuesday and clearly stated her name — Melissa Genovese — then proceeded to tell the judge, the packed crowd and the defendant just how Keith Willette’s sexual behavior had impacted her life. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing where her statement and those of others were made, the defendant would end up with a prison sentence of just under four years.

In a strong, assured voice Genovese, in her 20s, told of trusting gymnastics coach Willette since she was 14 and worked with him at a Diamond Springs health club and eventually at his apartment and at her family home. She thought he was the coach that could take her to the Olympics.

Instead, he took her down a road of sexual abuse, emotional trauma and all but destroyed her self-esteem and trust of others, Genovese told the court.

As she spoke, Willette appeared to hide behind his public defender, William Dittmann, who had positioned his client in the farthest possible seating area from the gallery crowd.

But Genovese, who obviously has made great strides in restoring her self-esteem and confidence since coming forward with the numerous charges of sexual misconduct against Willette, took a moment to address Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister.

Saying that she wished to view the defendant clearly “as I speak my truth,” Genovese asked the judge to order attorney Dittmann “to please move.”

Judge Phimister told the young woman that sentencing of defendants “just seems to go better when communications are made with the court” and urged her to address the bench instead.

Genovese complied and then apologized in advance for the language and sexual references she said she would be making on the record, explaining that “the world needs to hear” what she “no longer want(s) to keep inside me.” She then outlined a tale of manipulation, deceit and abuse that lasted throughout her teenage years at the hands of a man who not only was her coach but a trusted family friend, according to her account.

As she spoke, the courtroom crowd that attended the sentencing in support of Genovese and another victim — the defendant’s stepdaughter — could be heard stifling angry comments and trying in vain to hold back sniffles and tears.

Three of those in the crowd would address the court as well, including Genovese’s father and sister, along with the stepdaughter who said she too endured nearly two decades of sexual and emotional abuse from Willette.

The 55-year-old defendant sat in the shadow of his attorney, with the lawyer often shifting his standing position as the proceedings became more and more uncomfortable for his client, trying to shield Willette from not only the witnesses but the TV cameras that had been allowed to cover the sentencing.

Victim Genovese explained to the court that she had dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast since the age of 4 and by the time she was a young teen, she thought “I had a shot at my dream” when she began being coached by Willette.

She followed his direction and “the things he said would happen, did,” leading her to believe in everything he told her, Genovese recalled. That’s how the day could come, she told the court, where she would comply as Willette ordered her to strip naked and drape herself across a desk, allowing him to take photos of her buttocks area, ostensibly to monitor the progress of the healing of a hamstring.

“I now know that the manipulation began on day one,” said Genovese, still trying to look at the defendant who sat staring at the floor a few yards across the courtroom.

“I now know he was ‘grooming’ me,” she added, using parlance commonly used to describe methods used by sexual predators. He bought her gifts, including a diamond necklace, and befriended her family, soon invited over for dinner and other activities.

After a year of working with the gym coach, Genovese injured her hamstring and that’s when “therapeutic” massages from Willette began, along with him taking her measurements weekly or more often, to check her body-fat ratio. Not only would he take photos but he used a video camera and today, said Genovese, “God only knows what he did with those videos.”

Willette’s methods of “checking for body fat” included pinching her breasts on the nipples and monitoring the size of their aureoles, said Genovese, who added that her coach also grasped parts of her genitalia ostensibly for the same reason.

Now that she is a gymnastics teacher herself, said Genovese, she thoroughly understands how ridiculous were Willette’s methods and beyond that — how immoral and illegal.

The years of abuse led to the young woman going through a period of alcohol and drug abuse, along with cutting herself, according to a report filed in the case by the El Dorado County Probation Department. The report notes that the allegations against Willette were taken to the Sheriff’s Office, with Genovese encouraged and supported by the suspect’s stepdaughter who told authorities she too was a victim.

The statute of limitations had run out for what the woman said Willette did to her over a period of 18 years, but when she made her statement at the Tuesday sentencing, “Jane Doe” said she had “sat up last night trying to write a full statement” regarding the abuse.

“But I couldn’t do it,” said the speaker, who struggled with emotion as she spoke before the court.

“There’s too much and honestly, he doesn’t deserve any more of my time,” said the stepdaughter. “I was 6 years old when he came into my life and I was able to escape in the middle of the night at age 26.”

She said she too underwent “grooming” by Willette, “like Melissa said, … and endured emotional, physical and sexual abuse” from the age of 8 “every time he had a chance.”

By the time she was 12, said the stepdaughter, “complete intercourse” was occurring on a regular basis. She told probation officers that her mother knew about the sexual abuse but did nothing.

At 15, she said, she became pregnant and had to “endure going through an abortion.” She said that although she is aware the statute has expired, she nonetheless wished to “put on the record … what he put me through.”

It was when the stepdaughter, now grown, came across photos of Melissa Genovese, pictures of a compromising nature, that she contacted the younger woman and told her she knew Willette had abused her too, according to the probation report.

Shortly afterward, sheriff’s detectives were contacted in May 2017 regarding the crimes that began in 1999, some 50 occurrences alleged. The detectives’ investigation resulted in the DA’s Office filing a complaint and Willette was jailed May 27 of last year. While denying the charges, he nonetheless entered a guilty plea in February this year in an arrangement that resulted in a sentence of three years, eight months in prison. He has been in custody at the county jail since May 27, 2017 and so received credit for time served and good time/work time credits, totaling 586 days.

Melissa Genovese’s sister told the court she was not happy with what she thinks is too short a sentence and she turned to the defendant as she added, “as a mother to a young daughter I will have to live in fear every day because I know that this disgusting man is among us.

“I hope my children never know how the world can be.”

Although prosecuting attorney Lisette Suder worked closely with the victim and her family members, and told the court they were “all in agreement on the plea bargain,” she said she would have preferred a lengthier sentence.

“I am filled with mixed emotions,” said the deputy DA. “After all these years there is some justice, but never enough.”

The prosecutor added that she is “honored to have met these amazing, strong women,” referring to Melissa Genovese and the stepdaughter who together were able to place Willette behind bars.

“We’re not in a perfect world … but I am incredibly impressed with their ability to be strong and tell their stories. They are impacting and empowering others — inspiring more than they’ll ever know.”

Judge Phimister, who toward the end of Melissa Genovese’s prepared statement did order the defense attorney to step aside so she could see the man who tormented her, noted that in his opinion the plea bargain “maybe should not have occurred.” The visiting judge added, however, that he is not aware of the case’s nuances as he did not become involved until recently and that such matters “are never easy to deal with.”

“Both sides (prosecution and defense) were represented by good lawyers,” said Phimister, who then addressed Willette directly.

“I think you’re a pervert for life,” said the sentencing judge, who handed down a term for the crimes of anal penetration with a foreign object and possession of child pornography (evidence seized in a search of Willette’s home). He also ordered that upon his release from prison, the convicted child molester register as a sexual offender for life. Fines of several thousand dollars were invoked.

Melissa Genovese’s father, who had formally addressed the court earlier to express his disdain for the man he called “a monster,” took the opportunity to deliver his own sentence at the end of the judge’s pronouncement: “Rot in hell, asshole!” he shouted as sheriff’s officers moved to return Willette to the jail and ultimately to a state prison.