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August 23, 2005

Palo Alto middle school coach charged with molesting former student

ACCUSED OF SEDUCING VOLLEYBALL PLAYER 14 YEARS AGO

Jordan Middle School's longtime coach and athletic director spent Palo Alto's first day back to school in jail facing charges that 14 years ago he forced an eighth-grade member of his volleyball team into a lengthy sexual relationship.

Bill Giordano, 59, was charged Monday with 28 counts of sexual molestation of a child who is 14 or older after a woman, now in her 20s, recently disclosed the alleged abuse to her therapist.

Parents, sports boosters and student athletes were quick to support the veteran volleyball and track coach after school officials sent home a letter about the arrest.

``There's already anxiety about new class, new teachers. This is adding to the anxiety,'' said Marilyn Cook, Palo Alto Unified's associate superintendent.

Giordano was being held in the San Mateo County jail on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be back in court Wednesday to be arraigned. If convicted, he faces up to 22 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Giordano approached the girl to babysit his son in 1991, but the job turned into weekly sexual encounters, during and after school, San Mateo County prosecutor Melissa McKowan said during a brief court appearance Monday.

The alleged abuse started when the girl was 14 and occurred from Dec. 1, 1991, to March 31, 1994, McKowan said. But she first reported the attack to authorities this summer.

Menlo Park police began investigating the coach in early August and arrested him at his home on Thursday, Sgt. Jim Simpson said.

``It is not uncommon for victims in these types of cases to harbor a secret for a period of time,'' Simpson said.

Investigators searched Giordano's home and seized ``a number of items,'' according to a press release, but they wouldn't give details.

With older cases like this one, said San Mateo County Assistant District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said, prosecutors need to have corroborative evidence, such as a confession, a second victim or a medical finding. ``And we do,'' said Wagstaffe, although he wouldn't be specific.

Giordano, who is divorced, has worked for the district since 1978 and has been a physical education teacher at Jordan for 14 years, Cook said.

As of Monday, Giordano was on leave from his job at Jordan, where he teaches physical education to sixth, seventh and eighth-graders. He is also the school's track and volleyball coach.

District officials said they are waiting to hear more about the allegations.

``Kids are going to be asking questions, parents are going to worry about their kids,'' Cook said. ``We don't want to start a firestorm but want to be prepared if people are upset and need support.''

Parents and students responded with concern and confusion over the arrest. Supporters described the coach as always willing to help, whether it's working at the sports boosters snack bar or helping on the sidelines.

``You have to hear the whole story,'' said Chris Stirrat, president of the Palo Alto High's sports boosters, whose son, like Giordano's, is a junior at Palo Alto High and whose daughter was coached by Giordano for three years on Jordan's volleyball team.

The allegations don't match up with Giordano's public persona, Stirrat said.

``He is everything you'd expect in a teacher. He's willing to put his time on the line and always helping.''

Talk of the arrest swept through school, with many students forcefully defending the coach.

``I don't believe it,'' said eighth-grader Brianna Boyd, who runs track for Jordan. ``Why would someone from that long ago come forward now?''

Jordan athletes noted how Giordano comforted them when their best wasn't enough and pushed them when he could tell they weren't trying. They said they felt bad for Giordano and his son and were worried that people would be scared of him or mean to him if he returns to school.

In addition to coaching, Giordano was student activities director at Jordan for about 10 years. He also taught math, science, English and art at one time.

On his Web page, Giordano shares some of his outside interests: cooking, spending time at quiet, calm places like the beach and playing with his dog, Sexie Sadie, who is named after a Beatles song.

Dressed in a standard orange jail suit and grouped with other inmates behind a glass partition, Giordano appeared in court briefly Monday but did not enter a plea. His attorney, William Stewart, asked the judge to cut Giordano's bail to $500,000, but McKowan argued the bail should remain at $1 million because prosecutors say they believe there is another victim.

Judge Joseph Gruber told prosecutors they had until Wednesday to produce the additional victim or he would consider cutting the coach's bail in half.

Simpson said Giordano was originally booked on suspicion of more than 100 counts of child molestation.

McKowan said the district attorney decided to consolidate the charges because the victim was not able to articulate the dates of all the alleged acts of abuse. McKowan said the victim remembers having sexual contact with the coach about once a week but prosecutors were only counting contacts that allegedly occurred about once a month.

Posted by Nealus at August 23, 2005 04:33 PM

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