San Francisco man blackmailed teen stepdaughter to force her acquiescence to ongoing sex abuse – prosecutors
A San Francisco man blackmailed his teenage stepdaughter in an effort to force her continued acquiescence to a campaign of sexual abuse and rape he had begun perpetrating six years earlier, say prosecutors.
Authorities say the man, who we are not naming to protect the victim’s identity, began molesting the girl when she was a pre-teen and then “escalated to raping her” from 2022 onwards.
At a hearing today at the city’s Hall of Justice visiting Superior Court Judge Cecelia Castellanos rescheduled the defendant’s preliminary hearing to afford his newly-retained attorney, Patrick Clancey, an opportunity to research, investigate and properly prepare for the case.
The defendant’s alleged crimes came to light in November 2024 when the traumatized victim mustered the courage to approach staff at her school to tell them about the abuse.
In the week before this disclosure, prosecutors say, the girl had been raped and forced to perform a sex act at her family home. She was also taken to a hotel where she was repeatedly assaulted.
The court was earlier provided with text messages that, it was said, underscored the threats made by the defendant – specifically that he would tell the victim’s mother that she had a boyfriend.
“The deal to keep you out of trouble was that we were going to do it more often for now,” read one text message, in part, sent to the girl.
“[A]lso that we were taking a shower together, also that you were going to eat it too and try more different positions…” it continued.
In one text message the girl’s stepfather reminisced that “[Y]ou used to come to my room early morning when your mom was working on Saturdays.”
“I respected you,” the defendant protested to the girl in another message, “I never went inside of you until…and I was so fucking confuse (sic).”
“I will find out if you lied to me again,” he threatened in another text. “It’s over. I will tell your friend and teacher and you (sic) mom…”
SFPD officers were summoned to the girl’s school on the day she spoke with staff, court records show, and later that day the defendant was arrested.
The girl told officers that her mother was not aware of the abuse.
The defendant, 40, earlier pleaded not guilty to four counts of ‘rape of a child’, two counts of ‘oral copulation of a minor’, one count of ‘rape by force’ and another count of ‘lewd and lascivious acts upon a child’.
At that November 2024 hearing Superior Court Judge Kenneth Wine ordered that the defendant be held in custody to protect the victim and the public.
In a motion to detain filed ahead of that hearing assistant district attorney Michele Brass pressed the court not to release him.
“[S]ubstantial evidence shows that defendant’s release poses a substantial likelihood of great bodily injury to others,” she wrote, “because of the years of sexual abuse by Defendant to the victim who was in his care for many years and thought of Defendant as her father.”
“Defendant has also been threatening and blackmailing the victim…” she added.
In 2010 the National Incidence Study of Abuse and Neglect found that children living with their married biological parents had the lowest rate of abuse and neglect, while those living with a single parent who had a romantic partner living in the home had the highest rate.
The defendant will return to court on February 10 2025 for a review hearing at which it is anticipated a date for a preliminary hearing will be set.
The case continues.
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