No Contest Plea in Violent Rape Case

The man accused of brutally assaulting a woman in South San Francisco last year has pleaded no contest to counts of forcible rape and copulation, on condition of 9 years in state prison. 

The defendant, Sergio Cortez, now 29, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping charges in Sept. 2011, which could have resulted in 25 years imprisonment. Yet as of last Friday, Cortez has settled for the lesser sentence.

According to the district attorney, Cortez met the victim, a sex worker who agreed to an encounter, Sept. 8, 2011. He then drove her to an alley, punched her in the face and forced her to orally copulate him at knifepoint, then drove her to an abandoned house on the 600 block of Third Lane in South San Francisco with a knife at her throat, where he forced her into a water heater closet and urinated on her.

A 19-year-old male cousin, identified later as Nick, allegedly joined Cortez in the house where the two men smoked methamphetamine. After the cousin left, Cortez forced the woman into the bathroom, smashed her face against a bathroom wall and on the top of the toilet tank and forced her into sex acts.

The cousin returned, and drove both the suspect and the victim to his house, where the cousin’s brother called police. Cortez was apprehended shortly thereafter.

A pre-sentence report and imposition of sentence is set for Dec. 13. The defendant remains in custody without bail.

Rebecca Rosen Lum contributed to this article.

Get more crime news and sign up for our daily NEWSLETTER |  Like South City Patch on Facebook | Follow South City Patch on Twitter | Blog for South City Patch