After 4 1/2 hours of deliberations, a jury convicted a man on May 13 of raping a Brazilian au pair on vacation in Pacific Beach and sexually assaulting another young woman in 2018, both at knifepoint.
Deputy District Attorney Judy Taschner said Seth Alan Roberts, now 22, faces “over 100 years to life” in prison as a maximum sentence because the jury found true he used a knife during the crime and raped multiple victims.
Roberts, wearing a suit, showed no reaction, but his mother in the audience began to weep and she was comforted by family and friends who embraced her.
The seven-man, five-woman jury acquitted Roberts of raping his girlfriend in a tent after they listened to her testimony read back to them during deliberations. She was 17 years old at the time and was a runaway from Oklahoma who returned to her parents afterward.
Roberts’ attorney, Damian Lowe, showed jurors a portion of the girlfriend’s note that she left for Roberts that read “I love you more than you ever will know.” Lowe told jurors that did not sound like it came from a rape victim and successfully argued for acquittal.
Jurors did not stick around to discuss the verdicts with attorneys afterward. “You served a vital role,” said San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide, thanking the jury.
Eyherabide set sentencing for Sept. 1. Roberts, who is also from Oklahoma, remains in jail without bail.
The au pair identified Roberts in court on May 6 as the man who befriended her in Pacific Beach on Nov. 17, 2018. She said he wanted to introduce her to his roommate’s girlfriend who was also from Brazil but instead led her to an abandoned house on Reed Avenue where she was sexually assaulted.
“I didn’t think this would happen in America,” said the au pair, who is in her early 20s and whose words were translated in court.
She took care of children with her host family who were vacationing in La Jolla but didn’t tell the host until three days later about the assault. She underwent a rape exam, and Roberts’ DNA was found, said Taschner in her closing argument.
“They obviously had sex. There’s no doubt about it,” said Lowe in his closing argument, adding the DNA did not prove the sexual activity was an assault.
The jury also convicted Roberts of digital sexual penetration. A doctor determined the au pair had a laceration as a result, according to the prosecutor.
Roberts was also convicted of two counts of rape, two counts of digital sexual penetration, and forcible sodomy of the other woman in the South Bay area.
“I’m so glad to bring this (case) to an end,” said Taschner afterward. “These victims have been brave.”
During the reading of jury instructions, Eyherabide told jurors not to consider that Roberts did not testify.
Jurors heard closing arguments on May 12 and discussed the case for 1 1/2 hours before recessing. They deliberated another three hours on May 13 before reaching verdicts on all counts.
