SF District Attorney convicts man charged with assaulting two people in their sleep
Handcuffs on a wooden table. (Photo by Bernd Wüstneck/picture alliance via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco man was convicted on Wednesday of sexually assaulting two people in 2017.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the conviction of 45-year-old Martin Sotorizo on two counts of oral copulation of an unconscious person.
"I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial," Jenkins said in a press release. "The jury’s verdict delivers justice to the victims who have been waiting for nearly 10 years. I would also like to thank the victims for their courage in coming forward and their trust in my office after all these years."
The backstory:
Testimony and evidence presented at the trial showed Sotorizo, a leader in a Potrero Hill church’s youth congregation, used his position to groom and eventually sexually assault two teenage boys. Sotorizo met the boys when they were 15 yearss old, and they regularly attended youth congregation services as well as other activies outside the church with Mr. Sotorizo.
The boys periodically stayed in Mr. Sotorizo’s room when they were 16 and 17 years old, and he would buy them food and clothes, and play video games with them in his room.
During their stays, Sotorizo insisted one of them always sleep in the same bed as him, which occurred several times before the victims turned 18 in 2016.
The two victims stayed with Sotorizo on June 22, 2017. One of them woke to Sotorizo orally copulating him, and told him to stop. The victim reported the incident to the police several days later. The victim and the police contacted the other victim to share what happened. At that time, the second victim shared that Sotorizo had done the same to him.
Dig deeper:
"Mr. Sotorizo preyed upon the victims’ vulnerabilities as teenagers," Assistant District Attorney Rick Hullinger, who prosecuted the case, said in a press release. "However, the victims showed remarkable fortitude by carrying the burden of what happened to them for nearly a decade before facing their abuser to obtain justice."
Sotorizo is currently out of custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for September 24 of this year.
The Source: San Francisco District Attorney's office.