A lawsuit alleges that Watsonville City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in 2005. (Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo — Santa Cruz Local)
SANTA CRUZ >> In closing arguments Friday, an attorney for Watsonville resident Stephen Siefke urged jurors to find that Watsonville City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra sexually assaulted Siefke nearly 20 years ago, and to award more than $10 million in damages.
Siefke has accused Dutra of child sexual abuse, sexual assault, battery and “intential infliction of emotional distress” from a night in 2005 when Siefke and family friends stayed at Dutra’s home in Los Angeles. Siefke was 12 and on a trip to Disneyland and other attractions. Dutra was 30.
The lawsuit was filed in 2022 and went to trial in Santa Cruz County Superior Court this week. A jury started deliberations Friday and is expected to continue Monday.
“I would like to think that after this trial is over, there will be moments where [Siefke] feels powerful — he feels like he has reversed the control, the balance of power. So instead of being a victim or just a survivor, he’s a warrior,” said Dana Scruggs, Siefke’s attorney, in court Friday.
Dutra, now 49, has repeatedly denied the allegations.
“I did not molest him,” Dutra said in an Aug. 20 interview with Santa Cruz Local. “I think that this was a political attack at the beginning. People are involved in it that are political rivals of mine and a disgruntled ex-girlfriend of my dad’s. The fact that it’s still going on is crazy to me,” Dutra said.
Dutra, a District 6 Watsonville City Council member since 2020, is running for re-election against Trina Coffman-Gomez in the Nov. 5 election.
Case background
In 2005, 12-year-old Siefke visited Dutra’s home in Los Angeles with Dutra’s father and Susie McBride. McBride was Dutra’s father’s partner, and both were family friends of the Siefkes.
Siefke was sleeping on an air mattress in Dutra’s living room when Dutra and another man returned home, Siefke’s attorney said. Late that night, Dutra got in bed with Siefke and touched him inappropriately, according to the civil complaint.
Siefke “was prepubescent, confused and horrified by what was occurring. He somehow managed to reject Jimmy’s unwanted sexual advances, and Jimmy returned to the couch with his friend,” according to the complaint.
Siefke, now 31, did not pursue the complaint until 2022 because “he wasn’t ready,” Scruggs said during closing arguments Friday.
Siefke chose to pursue a civil case, rather than push the Los Angeles County District Attorney to file criminal charges against Dutra, because Siefke felt a sense of urgency to act after he moved back to Watsonville and learned that Dutra was working with children at Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Scruggs said. Dutra is no longer employed by the district.
Prosecutors often choose not to pursue decades-old allegations of child sexual abuse, Scruggs said.
The civil trial
Monday, a jury trial started in Santa Cruz County Superior Court to determine whether Siefke is entitled to monetary damages from Dutra.
During the trial, multiple friends of Siefke’s said that Siefke told them he had been sexually assaulted as a child years before the 2022 suit.
Damacio Montoya testified that Dutra groped him at a 2018 event when Montoya was 23. Montoya, now 29, is the son of former Watsonville City Manager Charles Montoya.
During closing arguments, Dutra’s attorney said that details in Siefke’s story “didn’t add up.” He said Dutra did not own an air mattress, and that the couch in Dutra’s living room was too small for Dutra to sleep on as Siefke said he did.
“Nothing about Jimmy Dutra at this time or any other time indicates that he would jump off a couch and molest a child,” said Christopher Panetta, Dutra’s attorney, in court. He called Montoya’s allegation a “red herring.” “Hitting on an adult is not evidence,” Panetta said.
Scruggs said the details of the night, like the size of the couch, aren’t as important as the central allegation of molestation. Twenty years after the incident, Siefke “is trying to remember all these details,” Scruggs said in court. “I’m sure he’s got something wrong, but he hasn’t gotten wrong that he’s on an air bed, and that dude gets down on the bed, unzips his pants and fondles him.”
Nine of 12 jurors must agree on the findings for Dutra to be held liable, Santa Cruz Superior Judge Timothy Schmal said in court. Scruggs asked the jury to award Siefke about $490,000 for future financial losses, including the anticipated cost of years of therapy, and about $9.9 million for emotional damages.
The jury could also consider punitive damages if they determine Dutra acted with malice or oppression.
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Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local through the California Local News Fellowship. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.
