SANTA CRUZ >> The second day of testimony in the civil jury trial of Watsonville City Councilman Jimmy Dutra, who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 2005, consisted of witnesses for the plaintiff sharing stories of their experiences Tuesday.

Dutra, who is a candidate in this year’s council election, was accused in a 2022 civil lawsuit of “sexually, physically and emotionally” abusing Stephen Siefke during a family vacation in Los Angeles in 2005 when Siefke was 12 and Dutra was 30. Dutra has rejected the allegations, calling them “baseless.”

The lawsuit claims that Siefke was on vacation with Dutra’s family when Dutra allegedly engaged in unwanted sexual advances and genital touching while Siefke was attempting to sleep on an air mattress. Siefke’s parents allegedly attempted to report the incident to law enforcement at the time, but Siefke was too ashamed to speak with police over it. He claims he suffered guilt, shame and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder afterward.

Siefke, who grew up in Watsonville, returned to the area in 2020 and was reminded of the incident as Dutra was making a bid for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors two years later. Dutra’s campaign cited his work with youth as board president of Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance and as an after-school substitute teacher at Lakeview Middle School, which prompted Siefke to file the lawsuit. However, after the allegations came out, Dutra was reportedly no longer working with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, and he had stepped down as Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance board president.

Shortly after the lawsuit, Dutra questioned the timing, due to both the election and the fact that he had just gotten out of a litigation over his father’s estate with his father’s girlfriend, Susie McBride, who was included as a witness in the lawsuit. McBride died in 2023.

The jury trial began Monday with opening statements from both sides and the start of witness testimonies, including that of Siefke’s mother Kelli, which continued Tuesday. Stephen’s attorney Dana Scruggs asked her if her son experienced serious emotional issues after returning to Watsonville in 2021. She said the issues were exacerbated during Dutra’s 2022 supervisor campaign as he would turn a street corner with an abundance of campaign yard signs, several of which had Dutra’s face.

“For whatever reason, that just triggered a whole spiral of trauma,” she said.

Scruggs asked Kelli if she was aware Stephen had filed the lawsuit. She said she was not completely aware but said it has been difficult for him over the past two years and that her son has become more guarded.

“The stress has been overwhelming,” she said. “It’s been a very big challenge.”

Dutra’s attorney, Christopher Panetta, asked Kelli about her relationship with Stephen. She said they were very close and that he was well-adjusted in his school years, as he got good grades, was active and had a lot of friends. As his teenage years progressed, she said he became more stressed and talked back more but found this to be typical teen behavior. Other witnesses reported that he had been bullied in school and called names, including anti-gay slurs. He was arrested in high school along with a group of friends for underage drinking and possession of cannabis, after which he was put on probation and required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

The arrest was the first time Stephen told his mother about the alleged incident with Dutra, after which she called him and he immediately denied it. Kelli said she contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department, filed a report and talked to the Special Victims Unit. The department requested to do a video call with Stephen, but he refused. Kelli said her primary concern was for her son and “not pushing him into something he felt uncomfortable with.”

Video depositions with Stephen’s longtime friends, all of whom he had shared details about the incident with and maintains contact with, were also played for the jury. Amber Beddow, who attended middle and high school with him in Hawaii, said he had opened up to her about it in seventh or eighth grade as they were sharing stories about their childhoods. He had shared a story about being fondled by an older man he referred to as “Jimmy” during a family vacation, where he was allegedly fondled while everyone else in the house was asleep. He told Beddow he pretended to be asleep.

“He said he didn’t know what to do or how to react,” she said.

Blaze Rexroat, Stephen’s partner since 2013, said he was one of the last to learn about the incident but recalled that Stephen’s parents were always supportive of him but felt it was up to him to decide when he wanted to bring it up. He said Stephen did exhibit signs of trauma in his life. When the two worked at a real estate company in Seattle, Stephen had to approve apartment applications as a property manager and came across an applicant who was revealed to be a sex offender during a background check. He wanted to refuse the application but could not do so because of fair housing laws, which Rexroat said was a very difficult situation for him.

Rexroat also said his partner would exhibit panic attacks and go through a circular thought process that would last throughout the day and into the night. When Stephen became aware of Dutra’s re-election campaign a year after moving back to Watsonville, Rexroat said his partner was not happy at all about it. When he looked up Dutra’s platform and saw that he was working with schools, that motivated him to finally take action.

“He immediately felt he was almost complacent to what happened to him,” he said. “Now he felt it wasn’t something about him but about the community.”

Rexroat said the decision to file a lawsuit was the hardest thing Stephen had done in his life and he would have nightmares as he prepared to go public with it, but the campaign would continue to give him trauma.

“The next day, he would try to have a regular day, then he’d see the signs again,” he said.

Since then, Rexroat said Stephen has tried to avoid going out in public, even relying on Rexroat to do their grocery shopping. Despite everything, he assured that he and Stephen continued to have a strong, loving relationship.

Dutra served one term on the City Council from 2014 to 2018 but was re-elected in 2020 and served a one-year term as mayor in 2021. In 2022, he made his third bid for county supervisor following the retirement of Greg Caput and even received a plurality of votes in the June primary, facing off against Felipe Hernandez in the November election. One month after the lawsuit was filed, Dutra was defeated by Hernandez and has continued to serve on the council ever since.

Dutra is running for another council term in District 6, the only contested council election in Watsonville. He is running against former Councilwoman Trina Coffman-Gomez.

The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Department 1.