Appeals Court Upholds Prison Sentence of Psychologist Heath J. Sommer

March 13, 2021

A state appeals court on Monday affirmed the state prison sentence for a former Travis Air Force Base psychologist convicted in 2018 of sexually assaulting several of his clients several years ago while working at the sprawling base just south of Vacaville.

Point by point listed in the appeal by Heath Jacob Sommer, the three-judge panel in the First Appellate District found no grounds for assertions of lack of sufficient evidence that supported “sexual battery by fraud”; that the prosecutor misstated the law to the jury during closing argument; that the judge erred during jury instructions; and that the court erred by refusing by refusing to release portions of the victims’ sealed mental health records.

“The judgment is affirmed,” Judge J. Petrou concluded, with agreement from two other judges.

After a three-week trial that lasted most of November 2018, jurors, deliberating for more than four days, found Sommer guilty as charged in Department 4, Judge E. Bradley Nelson’s courtroom, in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

The verdicts came after Deputy District Attorney Brian Roberts, in rebuttal remarks, recounted vivid details of witness testimony and said the defense’s case amounted to little more than asserting the five female victims lied on the witness stand.

Witnesses testified that they underwent “exposure therapy” in Sommer’s office at David Grant Medical Center at various times between 2014 to 2016.  A generally accepted form of psychotherapy, the technique is thought to help allay or purge anxiety disorders by having the patient face or even re-enact circumstances related to the source of their distress.

In this case, the therapy included sexual intercourse, oral sex and sexual touching, among other things. The women, some of whom had suffered sexual trauma while deployed to the Middle East or Afghanistan, had sought Sommer’s help to rid themselves of, or learn how to cope with, horrific memories.

Sommer, now in his mid-40s, was arrested in September 2016, waived his preliminary hearing in March 2017 and pleaded not guilty. The case drew national headlines and caused embarrassment for the Department of Defense in the #metoo era, the global movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault of women by men, especially in the workplace, and of victims speaking out and publicly identifying the perpetrators.

He faced charges of oral copulation by fraudulent representation; two counts of sexual intercourse by fraudulent means, saying it was for professional purposes; sexual battery by fraudulent means; and three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery for the purpose of sexual arousal.

In his rebuttal to defense attorney Thomas Maas’ assertions, Roberts argued that Sommer “targeted” some of his female patients, “gained their trust, preyed upon their vulnerability, and raped and sexually assaulted them.”

Nelson sentenced Sommer in early 2019 to more than 10 years in state prison.

Travis officials hired Sommer, who once went by the alias of Heath Jacob Lind, through a contracting company in 2014. At the medical center, just south of Vacaville, he treated more than 100 people before being suspended on July 12, 2016, Air Force officials have said.

Sommer was vetted by a contracting company, Aloha Health Joint Venture, and the Air Force conducted a background check, the officials said.

Source: Richard Bammer, “Prison term upheld for former Travis Air Force Base psychologist convicted of sex crimes with clients,” The Vacaville Reporter, March 10, 2021, URL: https://www.thereporter.com/2021/03/09/prison-term-upheld-for-former-tafb-psychologist-convicted-of-sex-crimes-with-clients/