Suspect in Rapes Arraigned on 17 Criminal Counts

A San Carlos man charged with raping four women in a series of attacks that spanned more than three years pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 17 felony counts.

Kurt Newman, 33, a bill collector and an aviator with the Naval Reserve, is charged with victimizing five women in a series of crimes that defies the traditional notion of a serial rapist because of the varying methods used to attack the victims.

Municipal Judge Charles L. Patrick ordered that Newman be held in lieu of $1 million bail until a preliminary hearing Sept. 10.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Josephine Kiernan said Newman is charged with a Jan. 11 attack on a woman who was abducted at gunpoint as she left her vehicle to visit her boyfriend. She said Newman forced the woman back into her car and then drove to a secluded spot near Mission Gorge Road, where he sexually assaulted her.

In the second attack, exactly 18 months later, Newman is charged with responding to an ad placed by a Carlsbad woman who was selling a bed. Kiernan said Newman was armed with a knife as he “tried to sexually assault her, but she fought back,” suffering severe injuries to her hands.

The victim was choked to unconsciousness, and Newman is charged with attempted murder.

Six days later, Newman responded to an ad for a wedding dress at a Mission Valley location where “he posed as a drama teacher looking for a costume for a play,” Kiernan said. The woman was suspicious, according to Kiernan, and Newman did not attempt any sexual attack. He faces a single burglary charge in the incident because prosecutors believe he intended to assault her, Kiernan said.

Newman is also charged with using the guise of a drama teacher and a gun to gag a La Jolla victim before sexually assaulting her and of sexually assaulting and robbing another La Jolla woman April 5.

“The victim awoke with a masked man beside her bed with a knife,” Kiernan said.

All five victims have identified Newman in a live line-up, Kiernan said.

Though Newman allegedly responded to three newspaper ads in these attacks, none involved the so-called “room-for-rent” rapes, in which an attacker responded to ads seeking roommates. However, Newman may be charged in those crimes, authorities said.

“The investigation is continuing, and more potential victims will be shown a videotape,” Kiernan said.