SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz neurosurgeon James Joel Kohut, who is already accused of numerous child sex charges, appeared in court Thursday morning, where he pleaded not guilty to 32 additional felony counts.
Kohut, 57, was arrested in May after police discovered a video that shows him and alleged co-conspirators Emily Joy Stephens and Rashel Brandon sexually assaulting children in a Scotts Valley motel room.
Those charges were amended to include sex acts in Tuolumne County, court records show.
Kohut now faces 48 felonies. The new charges stem from an additional video discovered earlier this month that shows, among other things, oral copulation, sexual intercourse and sodomy. That video was made in Watsonville, and depicts victims that include a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, court records show.
Brandon now faces 44 counts, and Stephens faces 43.
Many of the charges carry a possible life sentence in prison, while others carry a possible 10-year sentence.
During the hearing, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge John Salazar raised all three defendants’ bail to $15 million.
Previously, Kohut was being held in Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $6.45 million bail, while Stephens and Brandon were in custody on $500,000 bail.
Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Stephen Moore declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing an order from Salazar not to discuss with the media facts that have not yet been brought up in court.
Kohut, Stephens and Brandon return to court on March 12 for a preliminary hearing.
“We look forward to that hearing and we look forward to presenting our evidence,” Moore said.
Moore has said Kohut has a 20-year history of similar crimes, and said he has sought “taboo families” with several women.
In one instance, Kohut paid to fly a woman and her daughter from Louisiana, and molested the girl in a resort hotel in Santa Cruz, Moore said.
The case was launched when Brandon’s ex-husband brought a video that reportedly shows the women sexually assaulting children.
Outside court, Brandon’s brother Isaac Lynn said her family is supporting her, but that he hopes all the defendants “face the full gamut of justice.”
“This is appalling, this is deplorable,” Lynn said of the case. “We are here as a family to support her as a blood relative.”
