DNA linked Paul Flores to 2007 rape investigation, L.A. Times reports
Update to this story >> Was Kristin Smart buried under Ruben Flores’ deck? New ’48 Hours’ reports ‘explosive claims’
Paul Flores was accused of sexual assault in the years since Kristin Smart’s 1996 disappearance and his DNA matched a sample taken during a suspected rape examination, though he was not charged, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
The newspaper published an article Tuesday based on court records and interviews with Los Angeles-area law enforcement officials and several current and former neighbors. It details Paul Flores’ history of arrests and “heavy” alcohol use.
It also reveals for the first time details about a Redondo Beach police rape investigation into Flores in 2007 that prosecutors ultimately couldn’t charge due to a lack of evidence.
Flores, 44, has long been the only suspect in Smart’s disappearance nearly 25 years ago. She was last seen being walked to her dorm by Flores following a late-night party near the Cal Poly campus on Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
Flores was arrested at his San Pedro home on April 13 and has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder here. His father, 80-year-old Ruben Flores of Arroyo Grande, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory.
In a news conference, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said that Smart’s murder occurred during the commission of a rape or attempted rape, and that prosecutors intend to introduce in the murder case evidence of Flores’ history of sexually assaulting women.
Dow cited at least two suspected sex assaults linked to Flores from the Los Angeles area.
Tuesday’s L.A. Times article revealed more details about those cases, as well as the alleged rape in Redondo Beach. Paul Flores has lived in San Pedro since 2005.
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A rape investigation in Redondo Beach
According to the the newspaper’s reporting on the Redondo Beach case, in 2007, a woman told investigators she was having drinks with friends at a bar and next remembered waking up naked in a stranger’s bed with no memory of meeting him or having sex.
The L.A. Times reports that she left the stranger’s house still feeling intoxicated and later told police that she “strongly believes that she ingested an unknown substance” the previous night, according to a police report.
A medical exam confirmed the woman had sex, but it showed “no obvious indication of force or assaultive behavior,” and a urine sample revealed no trace of date rape drugs.
Four years later, however, the DNA sample collected from the woman’s body came back with a match for Paul Flores, Redondo Beach Police Lt. Fabian Saucedo told the L.A. Times.
Flores reportedly told police in an interview that he had no “particular recollection” of the woman or the incident, and “stated it was possible he had sex with her since he has had sex with many girls,” a prosecutor’s memo says.
The woman also was unable to pick Flores out of a line-up, and Paul Flores wasn’t charged in the case.
“The DNA hit only proves that there was some type of sexual contact, but not what the nature of that contact was,” Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Christi Frey wrote in a memo. The prosecutor wrote that Flores may have “taken advantage” of the woman’s intoxication, but it couldn’t be proved beyond a doubt that she didn’t go to his apartment and have sex willingly.
Paul Flores’ criminal history outlined
According to the L.A. Times, Flores has a criminal record that includes mostly alcohol-related offenses, but also driving with a suspended or revoked license.
The alleged offenses are not date-specific, but the newspaper reports that his record includes at least five convictions, including one felony, for driving while under the influence of intoxicants in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, as well as a conviction for being drunk in public.
According to San Luis Obispo Superior Court staff, a DUI case was filed against Flores locally on Feb. 6, 1996. That case has since been purged from court records due to its age and its details are no longer public.
He was also arrested by Huntington Beach police on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm in 1998, just two years after Smart disappeared. The case was not filed in court due to a lack of evidence, the article says.
The L.A. Times article also cites The Tribune’s reporting that the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office says in court records that “dozens” of women have described “sexual assaults and predatory behavior that document (Flores’) 25 years as a serial rapist.”
Court records say Flores is an ‘admitted alcoholic’
Flores also reportedly frequented bars close to his home at the time due to the loss of his license.
A letter to a judge in one of Flores’ DUI cases obtained by the L.A. Times quotes a counselor at a court-ordered alcohol program who wrote that Flores is an admitted alcoholic, whose symptoms include “loss of control over intake” once he starts drinking.
Judges have repeatedly ordered Flores to enroll in self-help courses and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of avoiding jail, the newspaper says court records show.
Two sexual assault investigations in Los Angeles
The L.A. Times had previously reported that Los Angeles police were looking into Paul Flores for other alleged sexual assaults.
Los Angeles Police Department Det. Daniel Aguirre told the newspaper in Tuesday’s article that Flores is a suspect in two attacks being investigated by the agency that occurred in the San Pedro area between 2013 and 2017.
County prosecutors are currently deciding whether to file charges against Flores, the newspaper said, and detectives want to speak with any other potential victims of Flores.
Drunken and aggressive behavior reported by neighbors
The article also cites reporter interviews with several current and past neighbors in San Pedro and Lawndale, a small city near Los Angeles International Airport, who spoke of Paul Flores’ erratic behavior.
One San Pedro neighbor who was warned about Flores before moving in told the newspaper of Flores offering her a drink upon their first meeting.
The woman described Flores in later interactions as quick-tempered and prone to fits of anger over parking and his dogs. The neighbor said Flores once banged on her door at night and accused her of spraying his dogs with a hose as she watered her garden.
Another neighbor who has lived next to Flores since 2017 said the only time Flores attempted to socialize was when he was drinking, and he would come to the neighbor’s house uninvited to hit on the neighbor’s female friends.
His behavior left the women uncomfortable, the neighbor, Frank Romero told the Times.
“He was pushy. He’d grab their hand, kiss it, keep repeating himself: ‘Oh, you’re so lovely,’” Romero said.
A former neighbor in Lawndale recalled Flores as awkward and a heavy drinker who didn’t respect boundaries.
On a few occasions, the newspaper reports, Flores tried to scale a wall between their homes in an attempt to socialize with her family without being asked.
Paul Flores remains in Custody at San Luis Obispo County Jail. His next hearing is set for May 17.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 1:43 PM with the headline "DNA linked Paul Flores to 2007 rape investigation, L.A. Times reports."
