'He is a child predator': Former McFarland coach sentenced in 2nd child sex crimes case

Aug. 18—A former McFarland High School basketball coach was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday after a second conviction for child sex crimes.

Fernando Pruneda, 40, was convicted in 2020 for contacting a minor to commit a sexual offense and sentenced to two years in prison.

But in November 2021, 23 days after he got out of custody, Pruneda contacted an underage boy through Grindr, a dating app for gay, bi, trans and queer people, to meet up with a boy for sex, according to Kern County Sheriff's Office field case reports filed in Kern County Superior Court.

However, the online account he'd contacted was run by a Kern County sheriff's deputy posing as a 14-year-old boy in a decoy operation to catch child predators. That investigation is what led to Pruneda pleading no contest last month to three charges related to contacting a minor to commit a sexual offense, which resulted in Thursday's sentence.

"He is a child predator," Deputy District Attorney Brad Taconi said in court. "He is a danger."

After Thursday's hearing, Taconi said his office did not offer a plea deal and sought a heavier sentence. Taconi added he wanted to go to trial, but Pruneda pleaded no contest to the charges before trial could commence.

Pruneda could have been sentenced to four years in prison by Judge Colette Humphrey. She said Thursday that Pruneda's second offense did not involve a real boy so the three-year sentence was appropriate. The twice-convicted child predator did not react when Humphrey handed down the sentence.

"This is somebody who preys on children," Taconi said to The Californian, in explaining his objection to the sentence. Pruneda isn't someone who stole a car repeatedly — he requested sex from a child, he added.

"The only way to ensure public safety is to keep them in custody as long as the statute allows," Taconi added.

Defense attorney Mark Raimondo did not return a request for comment.

Pruneda has 400 days of in-custody credit, Taconi said. California law also says a person with Pruneda's conviction history could serve 50 percent of their sentence, though this calculation could change depending on a variety of factors.

The disgraced basketball coach's first conviction stemmed from an October 2018 complaint lodged by the mother of a 15-year-old boy who went to deputies after learning of text messages between her son and Pruneda, according to a Kern County Sheriff's field case supplement report filed in court.

Text messages show Pruneda inviting the McFarland sophomore to a varsity basketball tournament in Nevada and asking him to stay in this room and share a bed together. Pruneda also asks the boy to refrain from confiding in anyone.

Pruneda also invited the victim to spend the night at his house, according to the court documents.

"Aye ur gunna sleep on the bed with me bro ... im more comfortable with you cuz I know you better ... n we did in Nevada already," read the text messages.

"You owe me" physical intimacy, according to court reports that cited the text messages.

The boy also asked Pruneda to teach him basketball, to which the former coach responded he would need sex acts. He also asks the student for a massage in the court documents.

"Yea like I said u give me that (expletive) ... ill get u where u want to be ... deal or no deal," the text messages in the court documents read.

When Pruneda was arrested, he said he had been employed at McFarland High School for six years. When confronted with the texts, Pruneda said to deputies he was joking, and the victim took it the wrong way.

Pruneda pleaded no contest to contacting a minor to commit a sexual offense, and had three charges related to child sex offenses dismissed. He was sentenced to two years in October 2020.

The former coach was arrested again in November 2021.

"'I don't even know what I am thinking,'" Pruneda said when he was arrested again by deputies, according to court reports filed by the KCSO.

The law firm Chain Cohn Clark filed a civil lawsuit against the McFarland Unified School District on behalf of the 15-year-old victim.

Pruneda had a past criminal conviction for grand theft from a person, and the district knew of his "proclivities to sexually harass and abuse minor students," according to a complaint filed in the case, and the district abdicated its duty to ensure a safe learning environment.

A hearing for the civil suit is scheduled for Dec. 23.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.