Quick Take
No verdict was reached on Friday, the first day of a Santa Cruz County jury's deliberations in a civil sex abuse lawsuit trial in which Watsonville City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra is accused of molesting a 12-year-old in 2005. Jurors will resume deliberations on Monday.
A jury did not reach a verdict on Friday in a civil sex abuse lawsuit that alleges Watsonville City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra molested now 31-year-old Stephen Siefke during the summer of 2005 when he was 12 and Dutra was 30. The weeklong trial in Santa Cruz County Superior Court happened as Dutra is running for reelection to the Watsonville City Council.
At times, testimony was deeply entangled in Watsonville politics and city government. The son of a former Watsonville city manager, Damacio Montoya, testified that Dutra groped him at a city event in 2018, an incident witnessed by the daughter of Dutra’s opponent this November. And a fellow member of the city council, Casey Clark, testified that he and Dutra were previously in a brief romantic relationship in which Dutra was “mentally and psychologically” abusive. He also said Dutra’s behavior worsened when he drank.
During the trial, Dutra called the two years since the lawsuit was filed “the darkest time of my life,” and said he worries he will “never have the same opportunities again” because of the damage it could do to his reputation, no matter the outcome.
In his closing argument, Siefke’s attorney, Dana Scruggs, reiterated that the case was about “responsibility and accountability,” and that the jurors needed to decide if Dutra did what he is accused of, and if so, what they were going to do about it.
“When Stephen filed this lawsuit, he was a victim. I’d like to think that at this point, there are moments when he feels like a survivor who has weathered a very difficult story,” he said. “But by your verdict, you give confirmation to his efforts.”
Dutra’s attorney, Christopher Panetta, said in his closing statement that there were too many things that didn’t add up for a jury to rule in favor of Siefke. He acknowledged Siefke’s hardships growing up, and said that he does not dispute that he told his friends and family of abuse that he experienced – but that Dutra was not the perpetrator.
“Mr. Dutra is not a pedophile, there is no evidence of that. Prior to this lawsuit, Mr. Dutra has never been accused of molesting children,” he said, adding that no one else came out to accuse Dutra of such behavior even after the current lawsuit was reported in the media and publicized on the internet.
Panetta also reminded jurors of the burden of proof, and explained that the burden of proof was on the plaintiff, and they must provide strong evidence in their favor. Essentially, he said, they have to gain a lot of ground with their evidence in order to adequately prove their case, and he did not believe that Scruggs and Siefke had done that.
“These allegations are forever in the community and on the internet. [Dutra] wants his life back, he deserves his life back,” Panetta said. “He’s not a pedophile, he never has been and he never will be.”
Siefke – whose family was close with Dutra’s as fixtures in the South County agriculture business – originally filed the civil lawsuit in October 2022, in the midst of Dutra’s race for District 4 county supervisor, which he ultimately lost. Dutra has consistently denied the claim that he molested Siefke in a Los Angeles home where Dutra lived and where Dutra’s family brought Siefke on vacation in 2005, and has suggested the suit was an attempt to damage his political career.
The trial also included testimony about the separate friendships that both Siefke and Clark had with Susie McBride, the former partner of Dutra’s late father. Dutra testified that McBride, who died in 2023, was angry at him over the handling of his father’s estate.
Among those who vouched for Dutra during the proceedings was Christopher Fuentes, who was Dutra’s partner at the time of the alleged molestation in 2005. He corroborated several of Dutra’s claims and cast doubt on certain details in Siefke’s testimony. Dutra’s sister, Lori Dutra, also took to the stand, pushing back on testimony that described a deterioration of the Siefke and Dutra families’ friendship after Siefke eventually told his mother about the alleged abuse.
Jurors will return Monday at 9 a.m. to continue deliberation.
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