A San Francisco employment lawyer who specializes in sexual harassment cases has been charged with rape and other crimes for allegedly attacking three women. Robert Michael Hoffman, 50, allegedly sexually assaulted a 36-year-old East Bay woman in March, a 19-year-old San Francisco woman in June and a 25-year-old East Bay woman earlier this month. The allegations include rape, sexual battery, forced oral sex and one count of false imprisonment.
The interesting twist here is that the women allegedly came to his apartment in response to his Craigslist ad for rough sex. An ad posted in June stated, in part, "I want you, I want to hit you, I want you to cry," court documents show. "I want you to be scared of me sometimes." Other ads told women who agreed to meet him they would be pulled to their knees by their hair, slapped, degraded and humiliated.
Hoffman's attorney said the encounters were "implicitly consensual" since the Craigslist ads clearly indicate the sex would be rough. "His ads are direct, to the point and make clear that he is looking for sexual encounters that included domination, control and some form of sadomasochistic activity," he said. He also alleged that one of the alleged victims wrote an email to Hoffman stating, "I read your ad and sounds so hot."
It would be a tall order to ask a jury to convict a person of rape under these circumstances. Aside from the obvious "consent" defenses based on the fact that the alleged victims knew from the explicit language of the ad they were responding to, it may also be a defense that Hoffman reasonably thought the women were consenting, which is arguably not rape under California law.
It is somewhat surprising that a case with such obvious weaknesses is being pursued by the DA's office. However, D.A. George Gascon is one of three candidates on the ballot for the November 8, 2011 District Attorney election, and is reportedly trailing the other two in fundraising. Never having prosecuted a case himself, Gascon, the former SF Police Chief was tapped earlier this year by former Mayor Gavin Newsom to finish out the term vacated by Kamala Harris when she was elected state attorney general.
These are ruinous charges for a person to endure. Bad enough that his private sexual behavior is now public (though he arguably assumed this risk in violating the rule we were all taught in kindergarten, "Never Talk to Strangers," and its lesser-known but no-less-important corollary: "If You Do Talk to Strangers, Never Involve a Ball Gag, a Rubber Mask, or a Cat-of-Nine-Tails In That Conversation"), but he is now being held in custody, precluding him from carrying on his law practice, and causing irreparable damage to that business regardless of the outcome.
If these charges stem from Gascon wanting to define his tenure in light of the upcoming election, it is a risky move. It is reminiscent of the infamous "Duke Lacrosse" case, wherein three Duke athletes were charged with rape and other sex charges on a sex worker with a history of mental problems they had hired for entertainment at one of their parties. Despite major credibility problems with his prostitute/victim, despite other deteriorations in the evidence, the Durham, NC Prosecutor fought on. He ended up disbarred for his efforts.
All of that said, this is one for the history books in terms of sheer entertainment value. Stay tuned.
