Former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez pleads no contest in shooting of man accused of sexually abusing his son – San Bernardino Sun

SAN JOSE – Cain Velasquez, the former UFC champion who faces an attempted murder trial for a brutal 2022 chase in which he repeatedly shot a man accused of sexually assaulting Velasquez's son but wounded the man's stepfather in the process, pleaded no contest to the charge Friday in exchange for a possible reduced sentence.

Velasquez, 42, made his confession in a San Jose courtroom before Judge Arthur Bocanegra. His trial was scheduled to officially begin on Sept. 9. He would have faced life in prison if he went to trial and was found guilty by a jury of attempted murder and nine firearms offenses.

Instead, Velasquez will be convicted but will not necessarily have to serve a life sentence after the willful intent charges were dropped in accordance with a plea agreement with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18, but actual sentencing is not expected until later in the year. Bocanegra has wide discretion in Velasquez's sentence, and in the coming months the county's probation department will prepare a sentencing report that will weigh the seriousness of his crime as well as possible mitigating circumstances, including his lack of criminal history and the sexual abuse case in which his son was reported as a victim.

Velasquez and his attorney, Renee Hessling, declined to comment after Friday's court hearing. Velasquez remains out of custody and his bail, house arrest and supervision orders remain in place.

In a statement Friday, District Attorney Jeff Rosen called the crime a vigilante shooting.

“This defendant decided to be judge, jury and executioner. His actions endangered innocent bystanders, including young children and their parents, who could have been injured or killed when he shot his intended victim,” Rosen said.

Paul Bender, the man injured in the shooting, said after the hearing that he was “disappointed in our court system.”

“In a case like today, where he changes his plea to guilty to ten violent crimes involving firearms and our system lets him go free?” Bender said. “How in God's name is that possible? I'm looking for someone to explain this to me.”

Paul and Patty Bender, who was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting but was not injured, were both in the stands Friday to hear Velasquez's plea.

“We were not happy about the confession,” Patty Bender said on Friday. “It was disappointing that the conviction was dropped. I was looking forward to the trial.”

Velasquez's arrest and subsequent indictment polarized the Bay Area and beyond, as he had become internationally known through his successful mixed martial arts career in San Jose and evoked sympathy for the father of a then-four-year-old boy who said he had been sexually molested by the adult son at his daycare center.

The crimes also ran counter to public opinion about Velasquez's behavior, who, despite winning two UFC heavyweight titles, was generally considered laid-back and soft-spoken outside the Octagon as he was a family man and coach at the American Kickboxing Academy in South San Jose, the school he represented during his professional rise.

Following his confession, Velasquez continued to receive support from the mixed martial arts community. Josh Thomson, a former Strikeforce lightweight champion who trained with Velasquez for 15 years at AKA, said he believed Velasquez had been punished enough by his first nine months in prison and subsequent house arrest.

“This should be over,” Thomson said. “If we're talking about a father taking action on his own to protect his children because California's failed system did nothing for him, that's exactly what happened. I think his time is up.”

Throughout the proceedings, the technical facts of the case were largely undisputed, and Velasquez's previous attorney, star attorney Mark Geragos, tried to draw attention in court and to the public that Velasquez acted out of anger at the thought that his son might be sexually abused. Previous court filings from the defense claimed that Velasquez suffered impulse control problems and brain injuries from over a decade of prizeboxing; he resigned in 2019.

But Assistant District Attorney Aaron French, the lead prosecutor in the case, had repeatedly argued in previous court hearings that the attack was premeditated because the chase and shooting occurred three days after Harry Goularte Jr., the man accused of abusing Velasquez's child, appeared in court and was granted supervised release.

On the afternoon of February 28, 2022, Goularte was being driven by his stepfather, Bender, and was also accompanied by his mother, Patty Bender, as they all drove from Morgan Hill toward San Jose so Goularte could be placed in an ankle monitor pursuant to his county pretrial supervision.

Shortly after getting into his parents' pickup truck in Morgan Hill, authorities said, Velasquez first shot Goularte, sparking a 11-mile chase through Morgan Hill that ended near Monterey Road and Bailey Avenue in south San Jose.