Richmond man sentenced for portable toilet sexual assaults

NAPA, Calif. (BCN) - A Richmond man was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison Tuesday for sexual penetration, burglary and vandalism involving women using portable toilets at the 2019 BottleRock festival in Napa and another festival in Alameda County.

Peterson Fontes, 42, cut holes in the back of portable toilets and digitally penetrated two women who were using the toilets at the BottleRock festival and at a street fair in Alameda County in May, Deputy District Attorney Kristen Orlando said.

Fontes was arrested after he was found behind the portable toilets at BottleRock on the last weekend in May.

The Napa County District Attorney's Office prosecuted the Napa and Alameda county sexual penetration charges, as well as the BottleRock vandalism and burglary charges, Orlando said.

Fontes was convicted on Dec. 10 by a Napa County Superior Court jury of two counts of sexual penetration by force, one count of second-degree burglary and one count of vandalism over $400. The two victims testified at the trial, prosecutors said.

"This defendant exhibited an extreme and reprehensible degree of criminal sophistication and planning in carrying out these sexual assaults. He meticulously placed holes in the handicap porta-potties at busy events and preyed on unsuspecting women during their most private moments when they were at their most vulnerable," Orlando said. The sentence was the maximum allowed by law, Orlando said.