A CAL FIRE firefighter-paramedic has been accused of raping three women while on duty, including a terrifying alleged attack in a shed behind his station.
David Renteria III, 51, appeared Wednesday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, clad in a yellow jail-issued jumpsuit and at times cowardly hid from the cameras outside the courtroom, according to KTLA.
He is facing multiple felony charges, including kidnapping to commit a sexual offense and several counts of rape with special allegations, Riverside County prosecutors said.
They claim Renteria targeted and raped three separate women. The Sheriff’s Department arrested Renteria at his Placentia home last month following an investigation that began in January.
An attorney for one victim alleged Renteria met the woman online before luring her to CAL FIRE Station 96 in Temecula while on duty in November.
The woman claims Renteria led her to a shed behind the station, where he held her captive and raped her multiple times.
When she pleaded to go home to her children, Renteria allegedly threatened to hurt them if she refused his demands, her attorney said.
She eventually managed to escape and alert authorities about the alleged assault.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Sarah Crowley revealed prosecutors also accuse Renteria of tying up and restraining one of the victims during an assault.
“An additional allegation as to one of the victims [is] that he tied and bound that victim in the course of raping her,” Crowley said in court.
Renteria’s arraignment was postponed until June because his private attorney was unavailable Wednesday.
Prosecutors said the charges could carry a life sentence under California’s “One Strike” sentencing law.
“Under California’s one strike sentencing law, because of these allegations under these specific charges, he would be facing life in prison,” Crowley said.
The investigation into the case is ongoing.