Sonoma Co. Sex Assault Inmate Deemed Unfit For Parole

An inmate convicted of a sexual assault in Sonoma County will remain in prison for another five years after having his parole denied at a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said.

The Board of Parole hearing for 44-year-old Santa Rosa resident David James Battensby took place at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said a two-person panel ruled that Battensby is unfit for parole because of his mental health, controlled substance addiction and behavior that includes violence and impulsiveness.

Battensby sexually assaulted a woman early in the morning of July 28, 2009, in her apartment on Mark West Springs Road.

Battensby entered the victim’s bedroom through a sliding glass door and she woke up as Battensby was stroking her arm, according to the district attorney’s office. He then attacked and sexually assaulted the woman, who was able to flee to a neighbor’s apartment where she called 911, prosecutors said.

Battensby was incarcerated in 2010 after pleading guilty to the assault, prosecutors said. He previously served time for exhibiting a firearm on a youth center’s grounds in 2002 in Lake County, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino said. Battensby received a sentence of seven years to life in prison for the assault, prosecutors said.

The board will consider his request for parole in five years, prosecutors said.

--Bay City News