A former Navy lieutenant accused of raping two women he met through online dating sites told police his alleged victim was “crazy” and treated him as if he was Jesus, according to a police interview played during his trial Thursday.
Sean Banks, 38, was heard in the interview recorded before his arrest, insisting he never committed any sex crimes against a woman he met on the Christian Mingle dating website , referred to in court as “K.K.”
He told police he saw K.K. for the first time at her La Mesa home in 2012, when he went to watch a movie with her.
After he entered her apartment, he felt he wanted to bolt soon after because she had misrepresented herself online and was heavier than he expected, he said.
But he said if he left suddenly, it would hurt her self-esteem.
"It's late, it's lame to her, I'm not going to do anything else with my time, I don't want to her to feel bad, so I stayed and we just had drinks,” Banks told officers.
Instead, the two began kissing, he said, and they both consensually moved to the bedroom. But when things moved too far, she yelled “stop.”
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"I immediately got off of her and if she said anything otherwise, she is lying to you. I want to you know that,” Banks said in the interview.
He told investigators he believed K.K. was deeply disappointed that a man who professes to know God and lead a Christian life would want to have intercourse in a first meeting.
"That I failed her representation, her vision of what a man of God is,” the defendant said. “And in fact, she probably put some of the actions of Jesus on me. So me kissing and doing these things with her was tantamount to Jesus doing that.”
The account is far different from the one given by K.K. herself, who continued her testimony for the second day Thursday.
She said Banks –who told her his name was Rylan – was sexually aggressive during their first date and forced himself on her in her bedroom and ignored her pleas to stop.
After answering tough questions from the defense attorney, K.K. told the prosecutor she actually feared for her life.
“You testified that as the defendant was pulling you towards the bedroom, you were afraid he might kill you?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes,” K.K. responded.
“Did you feel like that in the bedroom?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes,” K.K. said.
The jury also heard a phone call the alleged victim made to police. In it, she expressed concern that no one will believe her because her alleged rapist would insist he was never at her place.
Banks told police he was there but left when she ordered him out.
He said she then started sending him a series of threatening text messages that made him believe “she’s done this to another guy because she seemed very pro about what she was doing.”
Eventually, he blocked her from his online profile, he said.
“Look, she’s crazy, guys, she’s crazy. What would you do?” he told officers.
In the interview, Banks admitted to using the name Rylan on his online dating profile, saying he was planning to make that his legal name.
Prosecutors said he also went by the aliases Rarity, Rylan Butterwood and Rylan Harbough.
The defendant is accused of raping a second victim – known as R.O. – in 2009 after meeting in May 2009 on Match.com. That alleged victim came forward after hearing about Banks’ arrest in Feb. 2013.
Banks faces 44 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of the charges against him, which include forcible rape, rape of an unconscious person, sex with a foreign object and burglary.
