A 26-year-old registered sex offender is facing kidnapping, rape and other charges stemming from an alleged assault on an acquaintance who had a restraining order against him, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Jorge Luis Diaz was being held at Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony kidnapping to commit rape, rape, and oral copulation, plus misdemeanor violation of a court order and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Sgt. Riley Harwood.
Bail was set at $1 million.
The 22-year-old victim told investigators that Diaz confronted her last week as she walked to her car to go to work, Harwood said. Diaz commandeered the vehicle and drove her, against her will, to the Los Angeles area, where he obtained a motel room and raped her, Harwood said.
He then drove her back to Santa Barbara and released her after she promised not to report the incident to police, Harwood said.
Officer Tom Eccles and Detective Bryan Jensen investigated the case, which led to Diaz’s arrest Thursday outside his residence in the 400 block of South Canada Street.
Diaz, who was found to be in possession of a crack pipe, told investigators that he and the victim had gone to Los Angeles to go shopping, and that the sexual activity was consensual, Harwood said.
The victim has a court order against Diaz requiring that he have no contact with her, Harwood said.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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