A tourist wept as she described on Dec. 10 being raped at knifepoint in Pacific Beach. Two other women said the same man raped them, and he was ordered to stand trial on all eight sexual assault charges.
A young woman visiting the area from Washington, D.C. identified Seth Alan Roberts, 19, as the man who befriended her in Pacific Beach on Nov. 17, 2018. She and two other women testified in the preliminary hearing before San Diego Superior Court Judge Maureen Hallahan.
Speaking through a Portuguese interpreter, the woman said she was from Brazil and worked as an au pair for a couple in Washington, D.C., who were vacationing in the area.  She was referred to in court as G.S. and said she took care of the couple’s three children while they were staying in La Jolla.
G.S. said she had a day off and was walking around in Pacific Beach when Roberts, who was on a skateboard, began talking to her. She said she mentioned being from Brazil and Roberts offered to take her to meet his roommate’s girlfriend who was also from Brazil.
“Let’s go to my house,” said Roberts, who said his roommate’s girlfriend was at home.
San Diego Police detective John Clayton testified Roberts took the woman to a house in the 2000 block of Reed Avenue, but he didn’t live there. Clayton said various businesses in Pacific Beach had video surveillance footage of the woman and Roberts walking in the area.
G.S. testified Roberts pointed out where he lived and said: “let’s go in from the back.” She said she followed him, but then said “I noticed that something was wrong” when they got behind the house.
“Can I have a kiss?” she said Roberts asked her, and she said no.
“He produced a knife. He threatened me he would kill me,” said G.S. “He put it (near) my neck. He was screaming at me.”
She said he raped her and then ran off. G.S. said she ran for help, but didn’t know what to do. She ordered a Lyft ride and returned to her host family without telling them what happened.
“I was fearful. I didn’t know what the reaction of my host family would be,” said G.S.
She went with the family to Palm Springs three days later and she told them there what happened. “My host was shocked,” said G.S., who added that he called Palm Springs Police. She was taken to a hospital there.
Roberts’ ex-girlfriend, 18, who was referred to in court as C.C., testified she and Roberts came from Oklahoma in October 2018, after getting a ride from a truck driver.
“We dated for three months and he sexually assaulted me,” said C.C., who said it occurred in a tent in a Bonita campground.
A 19-year-old woman testified Roberts raped her in a South Bay home. “He pulled out a knife and put it to my throat. He put the sharp end to my throat,” she said.
Deputy District Attorney Judy Taschner urged Hallahan to order Roberts to stand trial on all eight charges of forcible rape, digital penetration, and forcible sodomy. Roberts’ attorney submitted the case to the judge without comment.
Taschner said afterward that Roberts is facing a maximum penalty of 190 years to life in prison. A trial date will be set on Jan. 6. He remains in jail on $1.25 million bail.