SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A Bird Rock restaurant owner has been charged with 27 felony counts related to sexual assault.
Daniel Dorado, who owned Voce del Mar restaurant, appeared in court on Wednesday and Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
Seven women gave testimony about their alleged encounters.
The list of charges includes rape of an unconscious person, sexual battery by restraint and oral copulation of an unconscious person.
So far, eight women have come forward to prosecutors, alleging some form of sexual assault.
“I believe the defendant has shown a pattern of conduct where he was drugging his victims by intoxicating alcoholic beverages,” says Assistant District Attorney, Jessica Coto.
But Dorado’s lawyer, Brian White, disputes that theory claiming there is no hard evidence of drugs being used.
“There’s been a lot of allegations, a lot of innuendo,” says White.
Dorado had faced 34 charges but the judge dismissed seven of them during the hearing.
If convicted on all 27 counts, he faces up to 32 years in prison.
