Judge to hear evidence against SLO County business owner accused of sex crimes
Prosecutors will present evidence against an Atascadero business owner charged with multiple sex crimes in June, a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.
Nathan “Nate” Abate, 34, was arrested and charged in January with oral copulation with a person under 18 years and rape of an intoxicated person.
He entered not guilty pleas to the crimes in his first — and so far only — court appearance the day after he was arrested.
The alleged crimes involved two separate victims and occurred between August 2008 and December 2010, according to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office.
Abate’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 20 at 8:30 a.m., the Superior Court judge said.
He will be required to appear in-person, the judge said Thursday in court.
A preliminary hearing gives the prosecution a chance to briefly show a judge the evidence they have and allow the defense to challenge it. The judge then will decide whether there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Abate and Julian Contreras, former owner of Kin Coffee in downtown San Luis Obispo, in April 2022 after several allegations of sexual assault or harassment by the two men came to light on social media.
The allegations came from more than 30 women on social media and are said to have occurred between 2008 and 2021.
The Sheriff’s Office sent its investigation to the District Attorney’s Office in early December, recommending charges for both men based on allegations from six women.
So far, only Abate has been charged.
The Sheriff’s Office has obtained an arrest warrant for Contreras, the agency reported in January, but he had not been found as of Thursday.
Abate told The Tribune in April 2022 that he has never sexually assaulted anyone or had any inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor, despite being accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 2012.
“No one ever has accused me of that ever, except one time,” Abate said.
Abate said his false imprisonment no contest plea resulted from a party at Contreras’ home in which an underage girl claimed that he and Contreras had raped her.
Abate said that he only entered into the plea agreement for the non-sex-related crime because his lawyer wanted $25,000 to go to trial, which he couldn’t afford.
Abate said the false imprisonment charge, to which he said pleaded no contest in court, was made against him because he was the only one who was 21.
“The arrest report was for sexual assault because that’s what I was being accused of,” he said. “So on the arrest report, that’s what it says. But there is no actual conviction because it was unfounded and untrue.”
A pre-preliminary hearing date in Abate’s case has been set for June 15, but he is not specifically required to appear in person until the preliminary hearing on June 20.
The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information on Contreras’ whereabouts to call sheriff’s detectives at 805-781-4500.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 12:22 PM.
