Pacifica Man to Stand Trial on Charges of Drugging, Raping Teen

A Pacifica man accused of giving his girlfriend's 18-year-old daughter a sleeping pill and having sex with her in December was ordered to stand trial for rape Thursday, the San Mateo County district attorney said.

At the conclusion of his preliminary hearing, 47-year-old Paul David Messersmith was ordered by Judge Donald Ayoob to stand trial for five felony charges, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

The 18-year-old woman who Messersmith allegedly drugged and then raped on Dec. 11, 2013, is the daughter of his girlfriend, who was living in the same residence as Messersmith at the time, prosecutors said.

Messersmith gave the victim a bowl of ice cream with what was later determined by police detectives to be a sleeping pill, according to Wagstaffe.

The victim recalls eating the ice cream, losing her motor skills and then being raped by Messersmith, Wagstaffe said.

The next day the victim and her mother told police about the incident as well as a similar incident in which she was drugged and sexually abused by Messersmith at a hotel, Wagstaffe said.

A detective investigating the case against Messersmith testified in court today and the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, according to the district attorney's office.

Messersmith is being held without bail on five felony charges, according to Wagstaffe.

One misdemeanor sexual battery charge was dropped, Wagstaffe said.