Man found guilty of kidnapping, raping woman in Salinas

A man was found guilty of kidnapping a woman in Salinas and raping her at multiple locations.

According to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, the victim and her girlfriend were visiting from out of town when they got into a car thinking it was their ride to a hotel. The woman was unfamiliar with the area and when the car started driving into a rural location she and her friend got scared and ran out of the car.

The two men in the vehicle grabbed the victim and forced her into the car. The male passenger was identified as Jose Esquivel. The driver has not yet been identified.

Authorities said Esquivel sexually assaulted the woman in the car and in each of the three fields they stopped at over a two and a 1/2-hour period.

The men eventually dropped the woman off near Los Lomas Market and she called police.

A sentencing date was set for May 24, 2019. Esquivel faces multiple life sentences.