Walpole Times
Villa admits to child rape
By Keith Ferguson
Wed Aug 26, 2009
DEDHAM - Daniel Villa, who was the “toast of the community” as the football coach who led the Walpole Rebels to a super bowl win last year, will spend two years behind bars after pleading guilty to three counts each of statutory rape and enticing a minor.
The teary-eyed Villa, who was led out of a Norfolk Superior courtroom in handcuffs yesterday afternoon, was also sentenced to seven years of probation upon his release from a county jail.
He was scheduled for a status hearing – were prosecutors present evidence against the defendant and a judge lays out how a trial will proceed.
The former coach, teacher and Walpole High School athletic director pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Dec. 30 of last year and once again at a grand jury indictment in March.
Defense attorneys declined comment on why Villa chose to plea out now, but the former coach did express a desire to put the matter to rest for all those involved.
“I’m thirsty for a clear conscious. A clean slate. A fresh start,” Villa said, who told the court he is currently seeing a therapist.
“He’s accepted responsibility,” said Defense Attorney Peter Ball. “He didn’t want to cause any further pain to the victim here, or her family.”
Villa first met the victim in fourth grade where he coached her basketball team up until she entered high school.
When the victim started at Walpole high, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Kate Welch said, she was shy and confided in her former coach.
“When (the victim) got to high school she was very quiet,” Welch said, adding the student and Villa exchanged numbers last October after they spent time together talking in Villa’s office at the high school.
Villa and the girl, who had just turned 16, started text messaging after the number exchange.
“The text messages got out of control,” Welch said, telling the court the prosecution found 3,335 messages from Villa during a two-month time span.
Villa and the student began meeting late at night, mostly on Fridays.
Welch said the 44-year-old Villa would instruct her to sneak out of her parents’ house at around 10 p.m. and meet him at the Old Post Road School. He would then pick her up and drive her to a road off Mylod Street to a housing development in the midst of construction.
During the first and second meetings, the two would talk until around midnight, but the meetings became more sexually charged as they became more frequent.
“The meetings went from talking, to kissing, to a lot of kissing,” Welch said.
On three occasions Villa touched the victim’s genitals above and under her clothing and had the student touch his genitals above his clothing.
The victim’s parents found out about the meetings the week of Dec. 5 after discovering some of the text messages on her phone.
On Dec. 9 at 12:06 a.m., Villa texted the victim saying: “I just know this is wrong and I took it too far. It’s my fault.”
He also told her that week that he “screwed up.”
On Dec. 10, Villa wrote: “I’m so scared right now. I’m sorry.”
The former New England Patriots offensive lineman was questioned by state police on Christmas Eve and soon after was fired from his positions in the school system.
He was arrested in his native Arizona as a fugitive and brought back to Massachusetts to be charged. The Division 2 Super Bowl winner and “Coach of the Year” spent 10 days in jail before making $7,500 bail.
A tearful Villa apologized in court several times to everyone his actions affected.
“I’m very, very, very sorry for the pain I have caused to her and her family,” he said turning to face the victims’ family in the observation section of the court. “A day doesn’t go by that I wish I could take everything back, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
In a message to his now ex-wife and four children, Villa said he wasn’t the perfect father, but he tried his hardest.
“I thought I was strong, but I was weak,” he said crying. “I love you, I miss you, and I think of you guys everyday.”
Villa also apologized to the players he coached in Walpole that put their trust in him.
“In many respects, the defendant has punished himself more severely than the court can or will,” Superior Court Judge Paul Chernoff said, noting Villa has lost his family, livelihood and the “reservoir of esteem” he built in Walpole.
Even though Villa doesn’t appear to be a danger to the community, Chernoff said it was important he serve jail time because of the extreme breach of trust and as a message that “abuse of children is not to be tolerated.”
Defense attorneys Ball and Heather Baer argued for a probationary sentence while county prosecutors pushed for three to five years in a state jail and 10 years of probation.
Ball stressed he wasn’t “minimizing the crime” but did point to the “wide array of conduct” and the “wide range of ages” of the statute, implying Villa did not have sex with the girl or force her to do anything and that she was close to the legal age of consent.
Welch argued for a harsher plenty because of the pain Villa’s actions caused.
“The affect has been astronomical on the family,” Welch said, noting the victim’s family was forced to move out of Walpole.
Additionally, some students at the high school showed “ill will” to the 16-year-old because of Villa’s position of leadership, Welch said, “which is not a fair place to put the victim.”
Ball argued incarnating Villa put additional hardships on Villa’s family who, despite his 12 years in the NFL, is not considerably affluent.
The defense attorney also listed a number of “collateral consequences” Villa has gone through.
“The more one has, the more one has to lose,” said Ball.
He argued Villa will never be able to coach children again – a profession he loves – and his reputation has been destroyed.
“Mr. Villa was the toast of his community,” said Ball. “The fall from grace here is almost unimaginable and that is something Mr. Villa will have to live with.”
During his probation, Villa will not be allowed to be in contact with children under 16 the victim or her family. His whereabouts will be monitored by a GPS ankle bracelet and he is forbidden to go near schools. Villa must also attend a sex offender program and register as a sex offender.
If he violates probation terms, Villa will face up to five years in state prison.
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