A man accused of writing death threats to seal advocates at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool was ordered to remain in custody without bail for the safety of the community.
Kent Trego is a tall, stout, mild-mannered man with no criminal history. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Trego wrote and sent a chain of threatening e-mails to members of the Animal Protection and Rescue League’s Seal Watch. Seal activists watch over the marine mammals, helping federal authorities cite anyone harassing the animals “” including some local divers with whom Trego identified.
“You look at a guy like Trego and you can’t necessarily trust what you see,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell D. Dembin, who presented evidence against Trego in federal court. “This wasn’t an impulsive, one-time thing.”
Months ago, Trego and two divers walked onto Children’s Pool beach while it was full of seals. Seal Watch members filmed and shouted at the divers as the marine mammals “flushed” into the water, a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Seal Watch members turned footage of the divers’ license plates over to federal authorities, which resulted in citations.
Soon after, members of APRL received an e-mail “death threat” from someone upset that “two divers who used the Children’s Pool in September have been cited by federal wildlife marshals for disturbing the seals.” The e-mail also named the volunteer as the person who “apparently [was] the one who turned them in.”
The e-mail said, “Revenge will be taken out on [APRL volunteer]. Many of the local divers have close friends in the California motorcycle clubs. As in this case, motorcycle club members have been contacted about [APRL volunteer] and she will be dealt with very harshly, if she is not killed.
“They know that if she is not in San Diego, she may be found in [another location]. Either San Diego or [another location] hit hogs will be involved in her punishment. She has brought this on herself.”
The FBI traced Trego’s e-mail account to the threats; and Dembin said Trego admitted to sending the group electronic mails.
“I know what I have: I have nasty death threats issued by a guy who [purports] to be an objective scientific observer who has a darker side,” Dembin said.
In addition to the revenge e-mail, the U.S. attorney said Trego allegedly sent two others, containing profanity. According to APRL attorney Brian Pease, Trego allegedly sent the other e-mails over the span of a couple of months. The e-mails threatened to burn the group’s thrift store in Clairemont and bomb a coffee shop in Hillcrest, Pease said.
Others, including Paul Kennerson, attorney for swimmer Valerie O’Sullivan, whose case has been at the center of much of the Children’s Pool controversy, said they know a different side of Trego. While Kennerson said he would never condone any of Trego’s alleged actions, he believes the court didn’t look at the whole picture and overreacted.
Kennerson wrote a letter on Trego’s behalf, describing a man who is verbally aggressive but has taken steps to stop past physical confrontations, he said.
“There’s a constitutional presumption that bail should be set,” Kennerson said.
But Dembin said the quiet, soft-spoken man Trego outwardly represents worries his office and the judge. He recalled many recent school shootings, in which seemingly average students went on mass killing sprees.