DA Drops Last Charge Against Frederick Hodges

—Bay City News

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office this week dismissed the remaining who previously had been acquitted of most of the charges against them.

Prosecutors Wednesday dismissed the lone remaining count against local ragtime pianist Frederick Hodges, 50, which was committing lewd acts with a child under the age of 14.

On April 17 jurors, who deliberated for two and a half days, found Hodges not guilty of six felony counts involving a second boy. Those charges were four counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14, one count of oral copulation with a child under 14 and one count of possession of child pornography.

Prosecutors alleged that Hodges had molested the two boys in Oakland and Berkeley in 2007. Hodges had been free on $1.5 million bail and his bail was exonerated after the last charge was dismissed today.

On Monday the District Attorney's Office dismissed the three remaining charges against Levy Genove, a 51-year-old man from the Philippines who had been charged with performing lewd acts with children for allegedly molesting two female relatives in San Leandro nine years ago.

Jurors found Genove not guilty of seven felony counts on April 19 after deliberating for about five days. Genove had been held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of $350,000 bail but he was released from custody after the jury's verdict was announced.

Prosecutors declined to comment on their decision to dismiss the charges against Genove and Hodges.