A San Diego restaurateur that was convicted last year of 20 criminal counts stemming from acts of sexual assault was sentenced today to a 40 year prison term.
In March 2018, the owner of Voce del Mare Italian restaurant on La Jolla Boulevard in Bird Rock, Daniel Dorado was arrested on suspicion of six sexual assault crimes that were alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2018, including rape of an unconscious person, sexual battery of a restrained person, assault with intent to commit a felony, and administering a controlled substance by force, to name a few. Last December, Dorado was convicted of 20 felony counts. Prosecution successfully argued that Dorado met his victims at local bars and restaurants, including his own and sometimes under the guise of a job interview for a position at his restaurant, or through dating websites, and the women were either given spiked beverages or drank too much alcohol to consent. He would then sexually assault them while unconscious, according to the state. Dorado was also charged with sexually assaulting four other women, but jurors either acquitted him on those charges or were unable to reach verdicts.
Although prosecution sought a 56-year prison term, San Diego County Superior Court Judge Charles G. Rogers today sentenced the 62-year-old Dorado to 40 years. Three of Dorado's victims spoke at the sentencing hearing and detailed the ongoing trauma they still deal with. Dorado's restaurant Voce del Mare shuttered soon after his arrest in 2018.
