Alleged molester may enter plea to lesser charge

A Silver Springs mother is outraged that the Lyon County District Attorney's Office is offering the man accused of repeatedly raping her two young daughters a plea of attempted lewdness.

"They have DNA proof he sexually assaulted my daughters, why is he getting off on lewdness?" said the mother whose name is being withheld to protect her children's identities. "And the excuse of not putting my daughters through a trial is ridiculous. They live with it every day."

Charles Palecki, 67, is being held in the Lyon County Jail on $600,000 bail following his arrest on a Lyon County warrant charging him with four counts of sexual assault with a child under 14 and two counts of lewdness with minor under 14 in Amador County, Calif., last month.

Deputy Lyon County District Attorney Brandi Jensen said she has offered Palecki a plea bargain to attempted lewdness, which he is scheduled to accept on Monday in District Court in Yerington.

"It was my decision not to put the children on the stand," said Jensen. Attempted lewdness is a category B felony and carries a penalty of two to 20 years in prison.

Jensen said she will argue against a reduction of Palecki's bail, should the topic come up in court on Monday.

According to court records, the allegations came to light in August 2006 after the children told their friends, who then had them tell an adult.

The girls, now 7 and 9 years old, allege that Palecki, a family friend whom the mother has known since she was 7 years old, had been molesting them over the course of two years, in every way imaginable, including using items that investigators eventually recovered from his Deodar Street home.

Those items later tested positive for the girls' DNA, according to police reports.

They said he allegedly threatened to shoot their whole family if they ever told.

Before investigators could speak to Palecki, and after deputies served him with a restraining order detailing the allegations, he allegedly fled the area. It was a year before he was located living in Amador County. The details of that arrest were not available.

Now, to learn that Palecki is not even pleading to a charge that reflects he committed the crimes is sickening, said the mother.

"This particular case has slipped because the District Attorney's Office hasn't been doing their job. They did not follow through on the charges even though they have DNA evidence," she said. "This a man who's known to be vindictive with a horrid temper who's threatened to kill us. Is that really the kind of life anyone would want for their children to lead? Is it only a matter of time and he's going to be back on the streets?"

Lyon County District Attorney Bob Auer said he had not had a chance to review the case, but was aware of the plea negotiations.

"I think that the deputy (district attorney) felt it was appropriate, and I agree with that," he said.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.