It took a San Luis Obispo County court official roughly 10 minutes to finish reading the jury’s verdict on the multiple rape allegations against Atascadero barber Nathan Abate.
They found the Cardinal Barbershop owner guilty on three counts of sexual assault on two separate victims that occurred between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 21, 2012. The jury deadlocked on a possible fourth count—an allegation of forcible rape of a third victim—with nine of the 12 voting for guilt.
After two weeks of witness testimony from survivors, medical professionals, and law enforcement, the jury found five aggravating factors that intensified the three charges of forcible rape, rape of an intoxicated victim, and oral copulation of a minor.
Jurors determined that the victims were particularly vulnerable; Abate induced a minor to participate in the crime; he carried out the crimes with “planning, professionalism, and sophistication”; he violated a position of trust when committing the crimes; and he engaged in violent conduct that made him a danger to society.
SLO County Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth told New Times that the five factors will help the court determine the appropriate sentence for Abate.
“Generally, when the factors in aggravation outweigh any factors in mitigation [evidence presented to the court that can result in a lesser sentence], a court can sentence a defendant to the ‘upper term,’ which is the longest period of incarceration allowed for that particular offense,” he said.
Abate, 36, is in SLO County Jail custody until his sentencing hearing on Nov. 12. His attorney Scott Taylor requested that presiding Judge Michael Frye not remand him after the verdict announcement on Oct. 18.
“These incidents happened more than a decade ago, … he has strong ties to the community, … his family is directly behind me,” Taylor said.
Prosecuting attorney Kimberly Dittrich of the District Attorney’s Office objected saying Abate’s conviction of at least two violent felonies made it inappropriate not to arrest him.
Abate and Julian Contreras—the former owner of the now-defunct Kin Coffee—came under fire in April 2022 when whistleblower “Ashley Doe” accused the pair on Instagram of assaulting her and her friend roughly a decade ago. Since her social media post, allegations streamed in from approximately 40 women who said they were also abused. The men were in their 20s when they allegedly picked on young women or children, supplied them with drugs and alcohol, isolated them, and forced them to perform sex acts with Abate alone or with both at once.
SLO County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Abate in January 2023 while Contreras fled to Mexico and remains at large.
In his closing statements capping off the 18-day trial, Taylor asked the jury to not conflate the two conspirators.
“Nathan Abate is not Julian Contreras,” he said. “He is not here to answer for Julian Contreras. They are both different people.”
Abate attorney Taylor also alleged that Ashley Doe tried to interfere by being the middleman on Instagram, directing potential survivors to reach out to her after which she’d give them the contact information of law enforcement.
“She tainted this case from the beginning … by not letting the police do their jobs,” he said. “You saw my behavior towards Ashley versus all the other victims. There’s one thing that makes me mad and upset and that’s when you’re messing with my client’s court rights.”
The sexual assault case isn’t the barber’s first brush with a felony accusation. The trial revealed that in 2013, he pleaded down a felony charge of penetrating a person younger than 16 years old with a foreign object to a misdemeanor false imprisonment. Abate received a sentence of one day in jail.
A court records search document showed that the records of the 2013 case have been destroyed in line with Government Code 68152. The code authorizes the trial court clerk to destroy records if a notice of destruction is provided and there is no request and order for transfer of the records.
Now, Abate’s wife, Brandi Lee, is trying to raise money to support herself and her children. She announced via Cardinal Barbershop email on Oct. 22 that the business shut down. Lee also requested recipients to donate to her GoFundMe page and write letters of recommendation for Abate that could be presented during his sentencing. As of Oct. 23, the GoFundMe page showed Lee had raised $1,605.
SLO County resident Gabby Everett Castaniero posted screenshots of the email on a Facebook community page, adding that Abate allegedly assaulted her when she was a minor 16 years ago.
“I wasn’t one on the stand but know at least six other women he did this to. Thirty-plus women have come forward with their stories including myself. Please do not support this establishment or building at all cost,” Everett Castaniero said her post. “You are supporting a pediophile [sic] if you do.”
Lee received mass criticism on Facebook for her continued support of Abate. Commenter Britny Jolene Schroeder said she wrote to the barbershop email Lee included at the end of her announcement for people to connect with Abate in jail, drawing attention to the sign-off in Lee’s reply.
“You are in fact all supporting Nathan,” a screenshot of the sign-off read, “because he is now in jail, which is 100 percent funded by tax dollars.” Δ
This article appears in Pet Issue 2024.
What a sleeze Scott Taylor is. There is a huge difference between providing a fair defense and being a hired rape apologist. Scott Taylor is clearly the latter, willing to unjustly attack and demean victims for money. His disparaging remarks against the victims weren’t helping his client’s case, but they were showing us that these type of men will always run together.