Suspect Enters No Contest Plea in Kidnaping

SANTA BARBARA —  An accomplice in the sensational kidnaping of a local water polo star and honor student pleaded no contest Monday to charges that could place him in prison for up to 12 years.

Stephen Gregory Gillen, 30, pleaded no contest to a charge that he kidnaped Ryan Curtis, 20, at gunpoint in September, 1992.

On Oct. 15, the mastermind of the crime pleaded no contest to a variety of charges, including kidnaping for ransom and sexual assault. Eric Alden Panizzon, 24, faces up to life in prison. His attorney said he will serve a minimum of 13 years.

Curtis was kidnaped at gunpoint after being kept under electronic surveillance for about three months. He was taken to Panizzon’s home in the upscale Hope Ranch neighborhood and held for a day in a coffin-like toolbox.

For most of the rest of the time, he was held in a 10-foot-by-10-foot toolshed on the sprawling grounds of the property, where he was repeatedly sexually assaulted, said Darryl G. Perlin, deputy district attorney.

Panizzon was the only one of the three suspects to be charged with sexual assault. The third alleged accomplice, Jeffrey Real Locas, 22, will go to trial on Nov. 15.