Crime & Safety

3rd Woman Accuses Alleged Christian Mingle Rapist

A man charged with raping two women in San Diego County, including one he met on ChristianMingle.com, allegedly touched a third woman inappropriately in a London hotel room after meeting her on the Christian dating website, she testified Monday.

The witness, who is not a named alleged victim in the case against 38- year-old Sean Patrick Banks, testified that she met Banks on ChristianMingle.com in November or December of 2009.

Banks is charged with raping a La Mesa woman in her apartment after they met on ChristianMingle.com in October 2012. He is also charged with raping a woman he met on a different dating website in 2009.

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The La Mesa woman identified as K.K. testified that she told Banks, "Let's not do this" and screamed "Please" when he sexually assaulted her then left as if nothing happened.

The woman who testified Monday was identified only as L.J. and said she met the defendant face-to- face in New York a short time later and spent less than an hour with him in his hotel room, but he made no advances. The two went out to a restaurant, then went their separate ways, she said.

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They didn't talk for six months or so, but in July 2010, L.J., then 25, said she communicated with Banks via Skype and he invited her to get together in London and said he would pay for half of her airfare, and possibly her hotel room.

The witness said she liked Banks because he was a Christian and was good- looking, but found him evasive when it came to talking about what he did and who he was.

Upon arriving in London, she said Banks showed her the shower in her hotel room, which she found "a bit weird."

The woman said they went to a dance club, where Banks danced very close and made aggressive movements that made her uncomfortable.

"It was more than I wanted," she testified.

The woman said Banks seemed disappointed as they walked back to the hotel, telling her, "You're not the one."

She said she left a sandwich outside Banks' hotel room the next morning "as a peace offering," but he didn't answer the door.

Later, the woman said she and Banks started talking again and she made her way into his room.

The two were lying on the bed talking when Banks touched her in a sexual way and she jumped, the woman testified.

"It was pretty uncomfortable," she said. "I'd never been touched like that before."

The woman said Banks touched her again in the same way, and she told him, "I'm waiting for marriage."

Banks checked out the hotel ahead of her, but didn't offer to pay for half of her room, as she expected, she said.

The woman told Banks that she didn't appreciate people going back on their word, and he got very angry and screamed obscenities at her.

"He said, 'You're just like all the girls in the world,"' L.J. testified.

Banks' trial is set for June 9. He faces 44 years to life in prison if convicted of forcible rape, rape of an unconscious person, sex with a foreign object and burglary.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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