A San Francisco man accused of kidnapping, beating and raping a woman at knifepoint pleaded not guilty to all charges in San Mateo County Superior Court today.
Sergio Cortez, 28, faces life in prison if convicted.
A report by the district attorney claims Cortez met the victim, a sex worker who agreed to an encounter, Sept. 8. He allegedly 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 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 report says.
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 preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25. In the meantime, Cortez remains in custody and has been denied bail.
