BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
A judge has knocked down a defense attorney’s attempts to reduce the number of sexual abuse charges west Menlo Park resident Randy Haldeman is facing.
Haldeman, 59, was arrested last summer and is facing nearly 20 counts relating to allegations of sexual abuse by children he contacted between Jan. 1, 1988 and July 6, 2018, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Many of the charges could result in a life sentence.
At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Attorney Chuck Smith argued that there was not enough force used by Haldeman for Judge Elizabeth Hill to uphold sexual abuse charges relating to an incident where Haldeman touched a child on the arm during a tour of Haldeman’s Camino de las Robles home.
The tour culminated in the two having a contest to see who could urinate the furthest, according to prosecutors.
Smith also questioned whether Hill ought to uphold charges of contacting children for lewd purposes because Haldeman had contacted the children through their parents.
Judge Hill struck down Smith’s arguments against the charges during a preliminary hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City. Hill was bound over for trial. The trial date wasn’t set, though his next court appearance is set for Aug. 5.
During the hearing, five sheriff’s deputies testified about the various molestations that were described to them by Haldeman’s victim’s, Wagstaffe said. No witnesses were put on by Smith.
Haldeman didn’t want to go to court
The hearing almost didn’t happen, Wagstaffe said, as Haldeman initially refused to come from his holding cell into the courtroom. However, Smith spoke with Haldeman on the phone, and he agreed to appear in court. Wagstaffe said his office does not know why Haldeman refused to come to court.
The sheriff’s office began investigating Haldeman in January 2019 after a victim reported Haldeman to the sheriff’s office. In July 2019, the sheriff’s office arrested Haldeman on suspicion that he had molested three boys who were between 8 and 13 years old. However, Haldeman shortly posted his $200,000 bail and went home, only to be arrested about a month later by sheriff’s deputies.
After reports of Haldeman’s arrest came out, nine more people came forward to say they were victims of Haldeman.
Haldeman is charged with abusing nine children, and contacted two other children, a boy and a girl, with the intent to abuse them, according to Wagstaffe’s office.
Of the nine abused children, one was a girl and the rest were boys, with ages spanning from 4 to 16, said Wagstaffe.
Prosecutors say the abuse occurred at three locations: a bathroom at St. Denis Church at 2250 Avy Ave.; the Ladera Recreation Center at 150 Andeta Way in Portola Valley, and Haldeman’s home at 2097 Camino de las Robles, Wagstaffe said.
Examples of alleged abuse
The abuse ranged from sodomizing a drunken 12-year-old to suggestively touching other children, said Wagstaffe.
Haldeman also fondled a child while showing him porn, and washed another child’s privates while the two were in a shower together, according to charging documents.
Some of the people abused by Haldeman said he did so by threatening them or being forceful, according to charging documents.
Haldeman came into contact with his victims in a variety of ways — such as posing as a volunteer with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization or as a volunteer photographer for the swim team that practices at the Ladera Recreation Center, Wagstaffe said.
Haldeman had claimed on his LinkedIn page that he was a volunteer with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization of America. But Dawn Kruger, the Bay Area CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters, told the Post last year that his claim is a lie.
Haldeman has a long history at tech companies in Silicon Valley and was among the creators of Apple’s first App Store in the mid-90s.
He also worked for a video-based advertising company founded by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Michael Milken, according to his LinkedIn.
More recently, he has been the CEO of Code-N Technology, a cloud and AI company, and a mentor to MBAs at Stanford, according to his LinkedIn.
In April, Haldeman asked to have his bail lowered as the jail was releasing others who were waiting for their trial date because of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the judge decided not to lower Haldeman’s bail because he has no underlying health issues, and since his wife will not take him back, Haldeman would essentially be a transient, Wagstaffe said at the time.
Haldeman is in jail in lieu of $5 million.
As disgusted and angry people are about Randy Haldeman, he deserves a fair trial with a defense attorney who will vigorously challenge the prosecution’s case. Right now, Haldeman is only accused of these crimes. Nothing has been proven. At a preliminary hearing, like the one on Thursday, it’s up to the state (DA Steve Wagstaffe) to show to the judge’s satisfaction that there is probable cause to hold Haldeman over for trial. The defense doesn’t have to say anything during a preliminary hearing. But defense attorneys often ask the prosecution’s witnesses tough questions to bring out holes in the case. It looks like, according to this report, that Haldeman will be put on trial later this year. Twelve jurors plus two or three alternates will hear the evidence and make a decision. If convicted, there will be an appeal. That’s inevitable. If the jury finds that Haldeman is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he should rot in prison for the rest of his life. If he’s acquitted, the judicial system should do everything it can to restore his life.