SAN JOSE — A senior manager with Samsung has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women over a multi-year span in the past decade, with one of the victims claiming he forced himself on her while she was heavily intoxicated, semiconscious, and grieving with him over a loved one’s death, according to attorneys and court records.
Stephen Michael Gonzales, 42, of San Jose, was remanded to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation following his June 27 sentencing hearing in a Morgan Hill courtroom. He will also have to register as a sex offender after completing his prison term.
In April, Gonzales reached an agreement with prosecutors in which he pleaded no contest to felony charges of forced oral copulation and rape, and two counts of sexual battery involving separate encounters with four women between 2013 and 2018. Six other sexual assault counts were dismissed.
Three of the women were at some point romantically involved with Gonzales, and another was a longtime friend.
“This case highlights a kind of rape that happens in our society that maybe doesn’t always get the same kind of attention as a stranger rape,” said Deputy District Attorney Tessa Stephenson, who prosecuted Gonzales. “It’s another kind of rape that is insidious in our society, rape that happens at the hands of someone you trust, when you might not always be on your guard.”
“I commend the courage of the women who came forward in this case. It was not easy,” she added. “I hope this resolution gives them a sense of closure and justice.”
Gonzales’ attorney, Sam J. Polverino, said his client was ready for trial and that the negotiated plea was in part about limiting the exposure his client faced in a case involving multiple victims, and which included eight charging enhancements that each carried a potential 15 years to life sentence.
“This creates a very chilling effect on anyone facing these types of allegations at trial,” Polverino said. “Mr. Gonzales was charged with crimes involving four such victims and eight such enhancements, which played a major factor in this resolution.”
Polverino also argued the women’s claims were inconsistent with statements they gave under oath at a 2021 preliminary examination, which ended with a judge sending the case toward trial.
“Most of the activity was consensual by all parties. Mr. Gonzales had no prior record and was unable to risk a life sentence on eight life enhancements,” he said. “Hence, a resolution was achieved with the help of the court.”
Gonzales worked as director of business-to-business sales for Samsung Semiconductor, a division of the global tech giant that has long had a regional office in San Jose, according to this LinkedIn page and authorities. A message to Samsung corporate communications was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The criminal case began when a woman went to San Jose police in January 2019 to report that on Nov. 29, 2018, she had gone to Gonzales’ home in San Jose to grieve with him over the recent murder of a friend who was also a relative of Gonzales. According to her police account, they drank heavily to the point where she was vomiting and passing out, and that at several points while she was barely conscious, Gonzales touched her sexually despite her protests.
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The assault, she told police, culminated in Gonzales forcing his penis into her mouth. She eventually left the home, and later confronted him over the encounter. According to the police report, she was incensed when he claimed that she was inviting and actively participating in the sexual contact.
Authorities said that in the wake of that investigation, three more women came forward to give their own counts of being sexually assaulted by Gonzales while they were in romantic relationships with him. Those additional alleged acts took place in 2013, 2015 and 2018, according to court documents.
Stephenson said sparing the victims from trial was an important factor in reaching the conclusion embodied in Gonzales’ sentencing.
“I think that it’s always painful to put people through the process of trial, and this case would have involved reliving a lot of traumatic details,” she said. “We wanted to achieve justice without creating too much collateral harm, and it’s our hope this disposition does that.”
Staff writer Ethan Varian contributed to this report.