A Fremont jury has acquitted a Castro resident and perennial candidate for local office of prostitution charges stemming from an online sex sting two years ago.
The jury found Starchild, a bisexual escort and erotic dancer, not guilty after three hours of deliberations Wednesday, November 7, following two days of testimony in the trial. Fremont police had arrested him on a charge of soliciting prostitution on December 6, 2005 after he agreed to meet a woman at a local hotel.
The woman was in fact an undercover police officer who had responded to Starchild's escort advertisement on Craigslist. Alameda County prosecutors had offered Starchild a plea deal last year, but he opted instead to bring the case to trial.
While pleased with the verdict Starchild, 36, who legally changed his name from Chris Fox in 1998, criticized Alameda County officials for wasting taxpayer money on the case.
"Needless to say, I and all the folks who were there to support me, were very happy," Starchild wrote to friends and supporters in an e-mail the day after the jury's decision was announced. "It is the best outcome I could have realistically hoped for, and justice was at least partially served."
He added that while the trial cost him $4,000 – and another $1,000 he raised from supporters – he does take "satisfaction in knowing that the Fremont authorities put in a substantial amount of time, money, and resources into this, and after nearly two years came away totally empty-handed except for the taxpayer money that they are all sucking up as a normal part of their jobs."
Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Simpkins, who argued the case, did not return a call seeking comment.
In an interview last week with the Bay Area Reporter , Starchild laughed as he said he was "feeling good" about the outcome of the case. He said going into the trial he was not sure that he would evade jail time.
"It's been a long time but also been such a drawn out thing. Most of the time I didn't really think about it that much," said Starchild, who testified on his own behalf. "At the beginning of it, I wasn't very optimistic. I thought I will either get convicted or get a hung jury. I didn't think I would get an acquittal.
"After the second day of the trial and they only had one cop testify, it was looking better," he added. "We were not denying I might have committed prostitution on other occasions, we were just saying I didn't do it on this occasion. There was no agreement and no action taken."
A Libertarian, Starchild unsuccessfully ran against Supervisor Bevan Dufty last fall. He first ran for the District 8 seat in 2002 and made his first foray in politics when he ran for state Assembly in 2000.
Three years ago he tried to win election to the city's school board. Now that his legal ordeal is over, he said he is thinking of again running for school board next year, when there will be four seats up for grabs, two of which will be open seats.
"I might run for school board before I run for supervisor again" when the District 8 seat will open up in 2010, said Starchild.