Convicted molester testifies in sanity trial

The English software designer convicted of molesting three boys while living in San Mateo told jurors yesterday he did not know having sex with minors was morally or legally wrong.

"There’s no handbook ... I just felt like it was the exact same situation as with a grown-up,” testified Tarquin Craig Thomas. "Why would time make a difference?”

Thomas, 44, did not take the stand during the guilt phase of trial but is now personally trying to convince the same jury that convicted him of 43 felonies that he was insane and didn’t know what he did was wrong. At stake is whether Thomas will be hospitalized for a minimum of six months before possibly release or sentenced to prison for life.

Unlike a guilt trial, the defense has the burden of proof.

On Tuesday, Tarquin began telling jurors about his childhood and young adult years in England. Yesterday, a sweater-clad Tarquin said he heard about sex indirectly from other kids but felt he "had missed out on something as far as education went.” He had few sexual influences, he said, but did watch, with another boy, the movie "For a lost soldier” which is about a sexual relationship between a soldier and 12-year-old boy during World War II.

After coming to the United States to work at Barclays Investment Firm, Thomas said he began a mentoring relationship with teenager Freddie, later the same with teenager Blake and eventually sought to adopt a boy. That boy, 9-year-old Dylan, was brought from Oregon in 2005 and remained with Thomas until authorities removed him the following November after a spanking report to Child Protective Services. Thomas sent a picture frame to Dylan containing a GPS device and prosecutor Aaron Fitzgerald argued in trial he planned to kidnap the boy. Jurors deadlocked on the attempted kidnapping charge.

However, discovery of the GPS device by a social worker led to Thomas’ arrest and eventual child molestation charges involving the three boys. A large basis of the charges came from video and photographs Thomas had of Dylan and Freddie performing and receiving sexual acts and by themselves nude.

Fitzgerald asked why he documented the sex acts.

"I photograph everything,” Thomas said.

Each time, he said, was likely to be a different act because he "liked to try new things”

According to Thomas, each of the boys brought up talking about sex or having sex. He described Dylan, who may have been previously molested, as "sexually hyperactive” and said Freddie had watched his mother’s sexual activity from the bottom bunk bed in their small room in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.

When discussing Dylan, Fitzgerald asked Thomas if the boy was the "instigator in all of these particular sex acts.

"Yeah,” Thomas said.

"You went along with it?” Fitzgerald asked.

"Right,” said Thomas.

In only one instance during a sex act did Freddie appear not to be completely happy, Thomas said.

Not every photograph had sexual intent, according to Thomas who cited the first bath with Dylan as being at his request and nothing more than that. The testimony reflected defense attorney Richard Keyes’ argument that not every touch or every image was lewd and lascivious.

Thomas said his arrest and jailing was "a very radical shock” and a "a pretty big wake-up call” that sex with the boys wasn’t exactly what he thought. He asked Freddie to destroy a hard drive with a torch but told Fitzgerald he thought it was legal to destroy potential evidence if it hadn’t been seized in a search.

Freddie’s mother, one of Thomas’ early supporters, discovered a flash drive hidden in a box of laundry detergent which contained images of the molestation. Thomas said he wasn’t hiding what he knew to be proof of wrongdoing. Instead, he said they were hidden because although Dylan had asked for the photos to be taken he didn’t want anyone else to see them.

Thomas said he didn’t think he was committing a crime but had never discussed the acts or child sexuality with coworkers or neighbors. Fitzgerald asked if Thomas knew he had to follow other laws, like using a passport to travel and paying taxes. Yes, Thomas said, because his parents had passports and a roommate once told him he had to fill out tax paperwork.

Tarquin remains in custody on no-bail status.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.