A man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted two women in Ocean Beach over a seven-month period last year pleaded guilty today and agreed to a sentence of 30 years to life in state prison.
Richard Christopher Butts, 26, will be formally sentenced April 17.
He pleaded guilty to one count of oral copulation with a kidnapping allegation and one count of forcible rape with a multiple victim allegation on the day his case was to go to trial.
Butts was charged a year ago with sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman as she walked home from a friend’s house.
A month later, Butts was charged with kidnapping and forcibly raping a second woman on Aug. 25, 2012. The 2:30 a.m. attack happened close to where the March 24, 2013, sexual assault occurred.
The victim in the earlier attack testified last summer that she was jumped from behind on Muir Avenue as she walked toward her boyfriend’s house, punched twice and dragged down a driveway and into a backyard, where her assailant tried to rape her.
The 26-year-old woman said the attacker pulled her hooded sweatshirt over her head, so she didn’t get a good look at him. She said the attack continued until the assailant heard something, jumped up and ran off.
James Delmar, who lived next door, testified that he was awakened by loud voices and a commotion.The witness said he saw a male figure dragging a woman down the driveway, then heard her screaming loudly.
Delmar said the woman was screaming, “Please stop! Don’t do this! Let me go,” and the assailant responded with “Shut the (expletive) up, bitch.”
Delmar said the man was breathing heavily and could have been choking the victim during the assault.
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Patrick said the second attack happened about 10:15 p.m. as the victim tried to make her way home after dinner at a friend’s house.
A 911 caller reported the woman screaming for help near Bacon and Voltaire streets. When witnesses ran to her aid, the assailant bolted toward Robb Field, San Diego police Detective Gary Hassen said. Patrol officers found Butts near the park a short time later and arrested him.
–City News Service.