SoCal rapist who used dating apps to meet his victims sentenced

A serial rapist who used dating apps to meet his victims was sentenced to 111 years to life in state prison on Thursday, according to a statement from the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Dustin Ronald Alba, a 31-year-old from Oxnard, was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of five women last month. He committed his offenses from 2012 to 2020 in the cities of Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Los Angeles, the release said.

Multiple victims of Alba said they met him online through dating apps and social media. After meeting in person, they said he would use his body weight to confine and then assault them, the statement said.

One woman he met through a dating app in August 2020 described how she and Alba spent a day together in Oxnard. Once back at his home, she said he forcibly “ripped her clothing, pulled her onto the bed, and proceeded to digitally penetrate and rape her,” the release said.

Prior to meeting in person, the woman told Alba that she was not wanting to “hook up,” the release said.

Afterward, she reported the rape to police, officials said. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the case, found text messages on his phone to other women whom Alba had assaulted, and four more victims were discovered.

He was taken into custody in September 2020, the district attorney’s office said.

Alba was convicted of nine felony counts of forcible sex acts, including rape, sodomy and attempted forcible rape, the release said.

Additional allegations and aggravating charges against him include that there were multiple victims, the victims were vulnerable, and that Alba abused a position of trust, the release said.

“The defendant’s sexual violence caused profound harm to many victims, warranting the sentence imposed,” Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosa Romero, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement. “While nothing can erase the pain endured, it is my hope that victims will begin to heal.”