Santa Barbara Man Arrested for 1999 Sexual Assault

Santa Barbara- August 12th, 2009

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Detectives have arrested a man for kidnapping and attempting to rape a woman in a crime that occured more than ten years ago.

At approximately 3:30am on July 9, 1999 an adult female summoned a ride from a subject on State Street who identified himself as a taxi driver.  The victim asked to be taken to the bank in order to pay for the cab ride at which time the suspect agreed to do so.

The female said she got into the suspect's vehicle, described as a maroon colored mini van.  The victim indicated she did not see any markings on the outside of the vehicle identifying it as a taxi, but recalled seeing what appeared to be a meter inside the vehicle. The suspect drove the victim north on State Street and passed the bank where the victim requested to stop. The suspect told the victim to "shut up" and proceeded to keep driving.

The suspect drove the victim to a remote location north of Winchester Canyon Road, Goleta.  Once at the location, the suspect proceeded to sexually force himself upon the victim.  The victim struggled against the suspect until he ultimately pushed her out of the vehicle and left the scene.  The victim, not knowing where she was, began running from the suspect and called 911.

Sheriff's deputies responded and located the victim in the center median of US Highway 101 north of Winchester Canyon Road.  The victim's clothing was subsequently collected and submitted to DOJ for processing, where DNA evidence was ultimately located.  The DNA was entered into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and no match was found at that time.

In June 2009, a CODIS match on the DNA was found, revealing Fred Jeffrey Gore (DOB: 05/07/63) as the offender in the 1999 assault case.  An arrest warrant was obtained by Sheriff's investigators for the arrest of Fred Jeffrey Gore who lives close to the area of the attack.

On Tuesday, August, 11, 2009, Fred Jeffrey Gore was located and arrested by Sheriff's investigators. He was subsequently booked into county jail for violating California Penal Code Section 220(a), attempt to commit rape and California Penal Code Section 209(b)(1), kidnapping with intent to commit rape with a bail amount of $100,000.00.

The Sheriff’s Department is not releasing a booking photo at this time. Investigators encourage anyone who may have been a victim of similar events dating back to the late 1990’s to contact Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives at 805-681-4150 or the Sheriff’s Anonymous Tip Line at 805-681-4171.

For more information regarding news related issues
please contact Drew Sugars, Public Information Officer.

Business Hours: (805) 681-4100
EMAIL:pio@sbsheriff.org