SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, May 15, District Attorney George Gascón announced that a jury found Edwin Rodriguez, 39, of Oakland, guilty of raping two women engaged in sex work. In addition to multiple counts of forcible rape, he was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, assault, and criminal threats. According to a press release from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Rodriguez was found guilty of 11 felonies and 1 misdemeanor. The jury made their decision after four and a half days of deliberations, and the defendant faces multiple life sentences.
“This case underscores the importance of San Francisco’s safety for sex worker policies,” said Gascón. “If we fail to prioritize this population’s health and safety they will not come forward and work with law enforcement as witnesses and victims of violence. Ultimately, unreported crimes and criminals pose a threat to everyone’s public safety.”
According to court records, on March 16, 2014 at approximately 10 p.m., victim 1 was in the area of 20th and Capp Street in the City and County of San Francisco soliciting herself as a prostitute when a Hispanic male driving an Escalade pulled up. The car had three rows of seats with a child’s booster seat in the second row of the vehicle. Victim 1 negotiated with the driver and entered the vehicle. Rodriguez drove the car to an unknown location.
Once there, the driver said he would not pay, but when victim 1 tried to get up to leave the defendant pushed her back down into her seat aggressively. He threatened the victim, telling her he had a gun. He forced her to orally copulate him and have vaginal sex with him. The victim cried and pleaded for her life throughout the assault. Rodriguez struck the victim each time she told him no. After the assault, he drove the victim back to where he first picked her up. After exiting the vehicle she ran into a nearby laundromat and was taken by a friend to the hospital where she decided to call 911 and report her rape to law enforcement.
Victim 1 underwent a sexual assault examination where two condoms worn by her assailant were retrieved from her vaginal cavity. The condoms were submitted for DNA testing.
On May 4, 2014 at approximately 6:15 a.m., victim 2 was in the area of Shotwell and 19th street in the City and County of San Francisco, soliciting herself as a prostitute. Rodriguez driving in a white Escalade stopped and the female victim negotiated sex for money. Victim 2 entered the vehicle. The suspect drove her to a location near the intersection of 17th Street and San Bruno Avenue. He told victim 2 to get into the back seat and she complied. She noticed a toddler seat in the passenger compartment of the Escalade.
The man made his way to the back where victim 2 asked for her money upfront. The man pulled out a large kitchen knife and held it to her neck. He told her to “shut up” and forced victim 2 to orally copulate him while the man fondled her breast. Rodriguez stopped and said that he wanted to move to a different location because he did not feel comfortable. He demanded victim 2 get back into the front seat where he told her: “don’t try nothing stupid” and that he had a gun. He threatened to kill her if she failed to comply.
The defendant began to drive the vehicle while holding the knife. Afraid she would be killed, victim 2 decided to escape by opening her door and jumping out where she landed on her ankle. She tried to run away, but stumbled as her ankle was broken. A Good Samaritan saw her jump out of the vehicle and stopped to assist her and called 911.
Officers and medical personnel arrived on scene to take victim 2 to the hospital. She sustained a substantial injury to her ankle that required two surgeries and months of rehabilitation. She is still suffering pain from the injury sustained.
Inspector Mark Lee of the Special Victim’s Unit responded to the hospital to interview victim 2. Inspector Lee assured victim 2 that she would not be prosecuted for soliciting herself. Victim 2 described her assault and her assailant. She described him as a Hispanic male, bald with a tattoo on the back of his head comprised of numbers and letters, with tattoos on his arm and neck, a scar on the top right of his skull, and she noted that he had a goatee. She described the vehicle as a pearl white Cadillac Escalade with large chrome rims, tan interior, and a pink and black toddler car seat in the back.
Inspector Lee canvassed the area where victim 2 jumped out of the Escalade and obtained video footage from the Russian Gospel Temple location on the corner of 17th Street and San Bruno which captured a white SUV vehicle traveling north on San Bruno Avenue on the date, time, and manner described by victim 2. The footage captured her escape from the vehicle.
On May 6, 2014, Officer David Sands and Sgt. Josh Hinds were briefed on the crime and at approximately 3:37 p.m. while driving eastbound on 24th Street towards Shotwell, Officer Sands spotted Rodriguez driving a pearl white Cadillac Escalade with 22-inch chrome rims. The officers detained the suspect and observed a pink and brown toddler seat in the rear of the Escalade. The driver was identified as Edwin Rodriguez who had a tattoo on his arms, as well as one on the back of his head which read “Salvatrucho 22B.” Rodriguez also had a scar on the top right of his head and sported a goatee.
Inspector Lee noted that victim 1 and victim 2 shared numerous similarities between them: they were both young African-American sex workers who were working alone in the Mission District at the time they were contacted by the defendnat driving a white SUV with shiny rims containing a child car seat. They both described similar patterns in their assaults including being driven to the exact same location where the rapes transpired. Inspector Lee requested Sgt. Flores and Inspector Keane of the Special Victim’s unit to conduct a photo line-up with victim 1 which included defendant Rodriguez’s mugshot photo. Victim 1 positively identified Edwin Rodriguez as the man who raped her on March 16, 2014.
On May 20, 2014, Sgt. Toomey conducted a photo line-up of six head tattoos with victim 2. Victim 2 positively identified the tattoo of Rodriguez as matching the tattoo of her assailant. The San Francisco Crime Lab analyzed the condoms for DNA which matched the suspect.
“The survivors in this case faced the risk of being shamed, the risk that they would not be believed, and even if they were believed, that they would be blamed,” said ADA Lili Nguyen. “They feared that no one would care and that nothing would be done; the questions that every sexual assault victim contemplates weighed heavily in their minds in deciding whether or not to come forward. But the hurdles for these women were even greater because they were sex workers. Their very fear and hesitation in reporting these crimes was also the very reason why the defendant targeted them and preyed on them. However, the Defendant not only underestimated the commitment of the San Francisco Police Department, he fully underestimated the survivors in this case. Their personal strength and faith in themselves is undeniable. They stood up to him, they cooperated with this case for five long years and testified against him in open court. Their determination and dignity, despite the reality of how others would likely perceive them, is an inspiration.”
The trauma of these attacks stopped both survivors from ever returning to the commercial sex trade. Due in large part to the dynamic that leads sex workers not to report violent crimes against them, the California legislature is currently considering SB 233 which imposes a sex worker safety policy similar to San Francisco’s. SB 233 prohibits the arrest of a person of specified sex work crimes if that person is reporting a crime of sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, robbery, assault, kidnapping, threats, blackmail, extortion, burglary, or another violent crime. A date for sentencing Rodriguez has not been set.
