Former Sonoma mayor pleads ‘no contest’ to felony sexual molestation

Former Sonoma City Councilmember David Cook pleaded no contest on Wednesday to the felony charge of sexually assaulting a minor.

Cook could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 when he appears in court on July 21. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years, according to Sonoma County Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Staebell.

Cook, 55, has been out on $250,000 bail since the morning after his arrest on Oct. 27. He was charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, stemming from incidents officials said to take place between April 1 and Oct. 22 of last year.

Under the terms of a plea deal with prosecutors, Cook pleaded no contest to a single charge, and the other two will be dropped. A no-contest plea is an admission to the facts of the case, but legally distinct from a guilty plea.

When reached by phone on Wednesday, Cook had no comment.

On Oct. 26, Sonoma police received a report of a sexual assault of a minor from an address on the west side of town at 12:25 p.m. After officers questioned Cook and took an initial report, the investigation was turned over to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, Sonoma Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.

The following day, that team concluded that there was enough evidence to arrest Cook on suspicion of sexual assault of a minor, a felony, according to Rodriguez.

At that time, Sgt. Juan Valencia of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, said that detectives believe it was an isolated incident involving one victim, who is being identified only as Jane Doe.

Cook was represented in court by Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa. Andrian is one of Northern California’s more well-known criminal defense attorneys; according to his website, he has tried more than 150 jury trials in state and federal courts.

Cook’s wife Kiersten Wallace filed a temporary restraining order against him on Nov. 5, according to court documents, and that order continued to be in effect as of Wednesday. Wallace filed court documents for a legal separation on March 16.

Cook served as a city council member in Sonoma from 2012 to 2020 and was the city’s mayor in 2015. He considered resigning from the council in 2018 and in March unsuccessfully challenged Susan Gorin for the 1st District seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. He did not run for a third term on the city council when his seat was up in 2020.

Following his arrest, two of Cook’s council colleagues called for his resignation, but Cook did not resign, instead choosing not to attend his final meetings. On Dec. 14, 2020, his seat was filled by Sonoma resident Jack Ding, who ran uncontested in the 2020 election.

Cook is the founder and president of Cook Vineyard Management in Sonoma and he owns and operates the Cook’s Mercantile store at 19626 Eighth St. E.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.