Outrage as HIV+ rapist who launched heinous attack on woman as she slept wins parole

A violent sex offender who broke into a woman’s apartment in San Francisco and sexually assaulted her while she slept is slated to walk free after serving just 11 years of a life sentence. 

Thanks to early release programs and “good behavior” credits that have expanded under Gavin Newsom, Roberto Detrinidad, a HIV-positive felon who sodomized a woman while she slept in 2013, is scheduled to be released from San Quentin State Prison in May, according to the California Globe. 

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schuber vehemently opposed the decision and questioned why the state would release someone who failed to complete sex-offender programming. 

“Why is California releasing violent sex offenders before they’ve even completed serious treatment for the crimes that put them in prison,” Schuber asked in a statement, according to the outlet. 

However, parole commissioners Michael Ruff and Cristina Guerrero determined Detrinidad no longer posed an “unreasonable risk” to public safety. 

“Our decision in no way excuses his behavior in the life offense where he acknowledges that his actions affected the victim for a significant period of time,” stated Commissioner Ruff, according to the Globe. 

Detrinidad was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison after breaking into the apartment of a San Francisco bartender with the intent to commit rape. 

“I started a plan that if I could get in there, have my way with her and get away, that was my plan,” Detrinidad admitted during his January 6, 2026, parole hearing, according to the Globe. 

The victim said the heinous crime caused her to lose her sense of security and ultimately made her leave the city. 

“I don’t know if that’s something that I’m ever going to get back,” she said, according to the outlet. “I don’t believe that he’s remorseful and I don’t think he’s going to stop.”

During the pandemic, the corrections department freed nearly 15,000 inmates early, with about 4,600 of them retuning to prison, according to Cal Matters. 

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