Nicholas Isaacs has never met Boping Chen, but he's betting his reputation as a respected music teacher that Chen is no child molester.
Isaacs, music director at Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, is one of dozens of Bay Area music teachers who say Chen, of Fremont, was wrongfully convicted of fondling a Menlo Park girl during piano lessons. Without knowing the student or her family, or without having heard the testimony that led a jury to find Chen guilty on 63 counts of felony child molestation in March, Isaacs is running a petition campaign to defend him.
Prosecutors say it's common for friends to rally around accused child molesters, unwilling to accept that someone they trust could do something heinous.
But in Chen's case, why are total strangers supporting him?
Chen's defenders fall into two groups. Music teachers, who can't avoid being alone with children, worry about false charges of sexual abuse. And Chinese immigrants, who may not understand the American court system, fear that language and cultural differences can keep them from getting a fair trial.
It's hard to spot a child molester. Last year, my daughter's favorite coach was charged with having sex with a middle school student. You just never know.
And yet the case against Chen left me with some unsettling questions.
Chen, 55, came here from China in 2001. His accuser, then 8 years old, began studying with him that year. She progressed quickly, and her parents praised his teaching.
But the girl complained about the lessons, and in 2004 she told police that for three years, during every lesson, Chen had touched her breasts and put his hands in her underpants while she played. Even though the doors to the living room were open and usually other people were in the house, she said, he groped her almost continuously.
Chen, who speaks little English, denied the charges. No other students came forward with complaints. At the trial, the girl was a very convincing witness, crying on the stand as she told her story.
Testifying through a translator, Chen was not convincing at all, observers said. He stared at the floor and showed no emotion. His attorney, Alan Dressler, didn't put Chen's family or other students on the stand; he did not return my calls. The jury deliberated for only two hours. On June 30, Chen could be sentenced to 100 years in prison.
Doris Lin, a Cupertino piano teacher, doesn't believe the girl's story, citing her progress under Chen's tutelage. ``It's impossible for a child to concentrate if this is going on all the time, at every lesson,'' she said.
San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan, who prosecuted Chen, counters that the girl's story was clear, consistent and compelling. Experts say child abuse cases often go on for years without children telling anyone.
``Just because there weren't any other victims doesn't mean it didn't happen,'' McKowan said.
Attorney Doron Weinberg, who has taken on Chen's appeal, has more than 100 letters of support. The Chinese Music Teachers Association and Citizens for Better Community, a Fremont group that supports immigrants, have joined the cause.
``People from mainland China expect the judicial process to take care of itself,'' said Lisa Quan, an attorney with the Citizens group. ``They don't realize they have to win over the jury.''
In an interview at the San Mateo County Jail last week, with his 19-year-old daughter interpreting, Chen told me he lies awake at night. He still believes it's all a mistake and that one day he'll be set free.
I searched his eyes, behind rimless glasses, for -- I don't know what. Some sign of guilt or innocence?
All I saw were the sad eyes of a man whose full story, I fear, the jury never got to hear.
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Contact Patty Fisher at pfisher@mercurynews.com or (650) 688-7510.