Man Sentenced For Raping 2 Women At Knifepoint In San Diego County

SAN DIEGO, CA — A man who was convicted of raping two women at knifepoint in San Diego County was sentenced Thursday to 175 years to life in state prison.

Seth Alan Roberts, 22, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of seven felony counts, including two forcible rape counts, for a pair of assaults that occurred about a week apart in Pacific Beach and Otay Mesa, when Roberts was 18 years old.

He was also charged with raping another woman, his former girlfriend, at a Bonita campground, but jurors acquitted him of a rape count related to that woman.

Deputy District Attorney Judy Taschner told jurors that Roberts approached one of the victims in Pacific Beach and invited her over to his residence. She agreed, but the prosecutor said Roberts instead led her to an alleyway and raped her.

The Otay Mesa incident occurred about a week later with a young woman Roberts initially met at a trolley station in Chula Vista.

After exchanging phone numbers, he met up with the woman a few days later at her South Bay home, where the prosecutor said he raped her in her bedroom.

Taschner alleged Roberts threatened both victims with a knife during the rapes. He was arrested in December 2018 at a home he was staying at in Chula Vista.

At Roberts' sentencing hearing, the prosecutor said the defendant "preyed on very innocent and trusting individuals who were very vulnerable to his friendly, charismatic approach."

One of the victims addressed Roberts at the hearing, telling him she was still affected years later by what happened and that she felt sorry for his family "that you turned out the way you did."

She said, "Do you even feel any remorse or care about what you did, not only to me, but to those other women? I hope to never in my entire life see your face again."

— City News Service