A 22-year-old man who was convicted of raping an au pair in Pacific Beach and a second woman at knifepoint was sentenced on Oct. 6 to 175 years to life in state prison.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide imposed consecutive 25-year terms for every sex act that Seth Alan Roberts was convicted of committing upon the two women in 2018.
Deputy District Attorney Judy Taschner urged the judge to impose the 175-year term, which was the maximum, while Roberts’ attorney, Damian Lowe, suggested the sentence be limited to 50 years.
Lowe told the judge this was one “continuous sexual assault” per victim and there was no need to impose consecutive terms per sex acts committed.
He said 50 years to life “is sufficient punishment.” He said a 50-year term is the sentence someone would receive for committing two first-degree murders.
Roberts, who had his head shaved recently, sat at a table in jail clothes and said nothing. His mother was seated in the audience.
The Brazilian au pair testified at trial that she was befriended by Roberts, who suggested she follow him to a house in Pacific Beach where his roommate’s girlfriend was also from Brazil. However, Roberts led her to an abandoned house on Reed Avenue and he produced a knife and sexually assaulted her.
The au pair, who was in her 20s, was in San Diego because her host family was on vacation. She testified she never thought such a crime would happen to her in the U.S.
The other victim was also in her 20s, and she appeared in court Thursday to make a statement to Roberts. She was raped in her bedroom in the South Bay after meeting Roberts at a bus stop.
“Do you even feel any remorse? I hope to never see your face again,” she said, between tears. “I hope you get locked up for good. You had so many opportunities.”
“I want you to know the things you did were horrible. I wanted to break down and disappear,” she said. “It still affects me two years later. I don’t feel comfortable in my own room.”
Taschner said the two victims were very trusting and “the defendant preyed on that.” She said Roberts got the knife and ran the tip of it up and down one victim’s body.
Roberts asked to come inside the bedroom of the one victim’s home so he could charge his phone and she let him do that, not knowing what could happen.
The judge told the victim in court these words: “Don’t let this man define you. He did this to you. You did nothing wrong.”
Roberts was convicted on May 13 after the jury deliberated about 5 hours over two days. Roberts was convicted of three counts of rape, three counts of digital penetration, and forcible sodomy.
The jury also acquitted Roberts of raping his former girlfriend who accompanied him to San Diego from Okemah, Oklahoma.
Eyherabide gave Roberts credit for serving 1,611 days in jail since his 2018 arrest. He was fined $10,790.
The judge told Roberts he will have to register as a sex offender if he is ever released from prison. But it is unlikely he will ever be released unless an appeal overturns his convictions and sentence.