A Sonoma County jury has ordered the Santa Rosa-based nonprofit Becoming Independent and a former caregiver known as Andrew to pay $6 million after finding them responsible for the sexual assault of Brian Perezarce, a developmentally disabled man who needs almost constant in-home care. The jury assigned 80% of the blame, or $4.8 million, to Becoming Independent for negligent hiring and supervision, and 20%, or $1.2 million, to Andrew himself. Despite the verdict, Andrew has never been arrested or criminally charged in connection with the assaults.
A Verdict That Didn't Settle the Case
The civil judgment, reached after a trial that began in May 2026 and ended with a June 1 verdict, closed one chapter of a years-long legal fight but opened another. According to The Press Democrat, Becoming Independent is appealing the verdict at the behest of its insurance company. CEO Luana Vaetoe has disputed allegations about the nonprofit's hiring practices, supervisory relationships, employee qualifications and personnel actions, saying the trial produced evidence contradicting them.
Brian's stepsister and legal conservator, Musetta Perezarce, has spent years pushing the case forward. She became Brian's conservator in 2020 and filed the underlying civil suit against both Andrew and Becoming Independent in Sonoma County Superior Court in February 2024. Perezarce, who works as a nurse manager for Sutter Health, believes Andrew sexually assaulted Brian on multiple occasions and says she wants him prosecuted criminally, not just held liable in civil court.
How the Alleged Abuse Came to Light
Becoming Independent began staffing Brian's care in May 2021, and Andrew joined the caregiving team that August. The alleged assaults occurred in early 2022, and the case became public after Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Perezarce home in Healdsburg around 1:30 a.m. on March 30, 2022, the day Brian complained about Andrew. Andrew admitted to masturbating in Brian's living room but denied sexually assaulting him, and he was never arrested or charged over the incident.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office concluded in August 2023 that the evidence was insufficient to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors continued reviewing additional information. After the civil verdict, prosecutors said they would review the trial record to see whether it changes that calculus. The district attorney's office has said it will examine all the new information to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prove criminal charges, but it has not determined whether that threshold has been met.
Andrew filed for bankruptcy the year before trial, and the plaintiffs' attorneys sought his dismissal as a civil co-defendant just before trial. The plaintiffs agreed to dismiss him in exchange for his testimony. Brian's therapist, Jessica Rowinsky, treated him over 46 sessions across two years and said he suffered from PTSD, often drawing or describing the abuse he experienced at Andrew's hands.
The Award and the Nonprofit's Services
Vaetoe has said the $4.8 million award assigned to Becoming Independent will not disrupt the nonprofit's programs or services, which currently reach about 210 people daily, according to the earlier Press Democrat report on the jury's findings. The organization, which describes itself as a nonprofit supporting the full spectrum of needs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the North Bay, receives client referrals through the North Bay Regional Center.
This is not the only legal trouble Becoming Independent has faced. A second lawsuit alleging negligence leading to sexual abuse was filed against the organization in March 2026. In another case tied to the organization, former employee Eric Bernard pleaded no contest to sexual battery and cruelty to a dependent adult in November 2025.
A Pattern Advocates Say Reflects a Wider Risk
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities face elevated rates of victimization nationally, a pattern that advocates say helps explain why oversight failures carry such high stakes. Bureau of Justice Statistics data put the rate of violent victimization among people with cognitive disabilities at 83.3 per 1,000, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data.
Becoming Independent's troubles are not isolated to the Perezarce case. The trial itself saw procedural setbacks for the nonprofit: a judge denied Becoming Independent's motion for a mistrial on September 11, 2026.
For now, the civil judgment stands as the most concrete outcome in a case that has stretched across years of investigation, litigation and appeal. Whether the criminal review that followed the verdict leads anywhere remains an open question that only the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office can answer.
