No jail time for man who hurled racist, homophobic statements at interracial family

A South Lake Tahoe man, who yelled racist and homophobic slurs at his interracial neighbors, will not serve jail time.

In home security video footage captured last fall, Mark Douglas — former neighbor of Norman Randy Pratt and his wife Kimyoeuth, who is Cambodian American — was seen repeatedly shouting: “You’re a f*****g pussy;” “F*****g g***s;” and “little f****t.”

Douglas continued to repeat the slurs, then escalated into death threats. “I wouldn’t go to sleep. I’ll be coming to see you. I am going to take care of you just like I did with the rest of the f*****g g***s,” he yelled, as shown on video footage. He then walked over and kicked Randy Pratt twice.

No Hate Crime Charge

The Pratts had asked the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office to charge Douglas with a hate crime. But Douglas was charged only with criminal threat and battery, both misdemeanor offenses.

Douglas was scheduled to appear in court May 2 to accept the terms of a plea deal. El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney Lisette Suder told American Community Media that Douglas’ attorney appeared for him and entered the change of plea in absentia.

Douglas was sentenced to 30 days county jail. But, as he now lives out of state, he will be permitted to serve an alternative sentence through community service, explained Suder. This equates to 112 hours of community service (30 days minus the one day he served in custody). Proof of completion of this community service must be provided by Sept. 19.

The perpetrator must also remain 100 yards away from the Pratts for the next 3 years, according to Suder. Douglas is not allowed to possess weapons, and must also complete an anger management class by Aug. 1, said Suder.

Damaging Impact on Children

Kimyoeuth Pratt filed a victim’s impact statement with the court, saying her young children, ages 7 and 9, were deeply impacted by the incident. “The multiple threats over a 45 minute period Mark Douglas yelled at our family on August 3, 2024 while he stood and paced in front of our home left very damaging and lasting impacts upon myself and my two young children,” wrote Pratt in the statement forwarded to ACoM.

She noted that she was born in a refugee camp as her family struggled to escape Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge genocide.

”While my family successfully escaped one of the greatest genocides in humanity I wish I could tell my children that hate based violence has consequences here in El Dorado County.”

”The Asian hate Mark Douglas demonstrated and targeted upon myself and my children —absent of any type of charge for his actions against us — has damaged our sense of security, safety and the belief in the righteousness of justice,” wrote Pratt.

Justice Not Served

“I feel very disappointed that — in this case — justice has not been served to all of those affected by the crime Mark Douglas committed,” she wrote.

Randy Pratt also expressed his disappointment that no additional charges would be filed against Douglas, despite evidence indicating the incident was motivated by hate.

Marita Etcubañez, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC told ACoM in an earlier interview that though the incident may rise to the level of a hate crime, prosecutors usually choose to go after what’s easiest to prove.

In 2023 — the last year for which data is available —  1,970 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies in California. 679 hate crime cases were sent to prosecutors that year, but only 5 went to trial. In an interview last April, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told ACoM that hate crimes are notoriously difficult to prosecute. “They require a proof of intent. By design, a hate crime must originate with the hate element, which is often difficult to establish,” he said.