Ex-Deputy Jailed After More Rape Charges Filed

A former Orange County deputy marshal who had been fired following charges that he raped a woman on a date was in jail again Friday after prosecutors added rape or sexual assault charges against him involving three more women.

South Municipal Court Judge Pamela L. Iles set bail at $250,000 for Donald M. De La Mater, 41, who had been free without bail since his first court hearing two months ago.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis D. Bauer, in seeking a high bail, said in court that as many as 10 women over the past 20 years may have been assaulted by De La Mater and that he had made threats against another deputy.

“His fellow deputies have described him as a ‘time bomb’ about to go off,” Bauer said later.

Bauer also told the court that De La Mater had at least six large-caliber handguns in his possession. The judge ordered that those weapons, and any other weapons De La Mater might own, be confiscated.

De La Mater is a former police officer who worked for police departments in both Fullerton and Costa Mesa. He was fired by the Costa Mesa department in 1974 for reasons that have not been made public. County Marshal James C. Byham said his department decided to hire De La Mater in 1979 after officials concluded that his dismissal from the Costa Mesa force was a “one-time personal thing” and not of an extreme nature.

De La Mater faces a maximum of 43 years in prison if convicted on the six felony counts he now faces.

Last January, he was charged with one count of raping a woman who told Newport Beach police that the incident occurred during a date. The woman said that she and De La Mater had met in Santa Ana at a restaurant and then went to Newport Beach for drinks. The woman said De La Mater raped her when the two parked later that evening in a Newport Heights parking lot.

The woman did not report the incident for four months, saying she was afraid because of De La Mater’s position.

Bauer said sexual assaults involving two other women were under investigation when De La Mater made his first court appearance in January. But a third woman called law enforcement officials anonymously, claiming that De La Mater had raped her.

“We convinced her to identify herself and come forward,” Bauer said. “She had read about him in the newspapers.”

Two additional sexual assault counts were filed against De La Mater in the incident in Newport Beach. De La Mater is also charged with raping two of the other women and attempted rape of the fourth.

De La Mater has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Bauer said De La Mater attacked these women after either meeting them socially or through his work. But none of the rapes involved coercion through his duties as a peace officer, the prosecutor said.

A bail review hearing is scheduled for April 8. De La Mater’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 12.