Santa Barbara man sentenced for raping homeless women

February 25, 2016

A 35-year-old Santa Barbara man received a 32-year prison sentence Wednesday for raping two homeless women. Daniel Rico Fabian, 35, previously pleaded no contest to two counts of forcible rape, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.

Both rapes occurred last year. The more recent one took place in October at a Santa Barbara homeless encampment. The first rape occurred in April in Los Angeles County.

On Oct. 30, Fabian follow a homeless Santa Barbara woman to her campsite on the west side of the city. Fabian then sexually assaulted the woman until her companion returned to the campsite and stopped the attack.

While Santa Barbara prosecutors investigated the case, they learned Fabian had previously been arrested for raping a woman in Los Angeles County. That rape occurred on April 11 in San Pedro.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office granted the Santa Barbara DA’s Office the authority to prosecute the San Pedro case. A special provision of the penal code allows for sex crimes that occurred in separate counties to be prosecuted in one of the jurisdictions, according to the Santa Barbara DA’s Office.

As part of his plea agreement, Fabian admitted to having a prior strike from a conviction for a 2003 residential burglary. The strike doubled Fabian’s sentence in the rape case.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley released a statement commending both survivors who came forwarded and reported the rapes, as well as the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles police departments, which investigated the cases.

“This conviction will ensure that the defendant remains behind bars for the majority of his adult life,” Dudley said. “It will also give the survivors the opportunity to begin the healing process, knowing that their perpetrator is in prison.”