Victim tells prosecutors she assumed convicted ChristianMingle rapist Sean Banks was “a good Christian man” after online conversations about Jesus and the Bible.
The “good Christian man,” former Navy Lieutenant Sean Banks, was sentenced earlier this month to 37 years to life in prison for raping two women he met on the online dating sites ChristianMingle.com and Match.com.
In his final statement before sentencing, Banks quoted what he said was his favorite Bible verse:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
Last June a San Diego County jury found Banks guilty of rape, rape of an intoxicated woman, two counts of forcible digital penetration and residential burglary with intent to commit rape.
NBC San Diego reports Banks told the judge he would drop his appeal if one of the victims passed a polygraph test. However, Banks’ words apparently failed to impress the judge, who gave him the high end of the sentencing range and denied him probation. A restraining order also will bar Banks from the two victims for 10 years.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Daniel Goldstein expressed dismay that Banks continues to portray an innocent facade and has shown no remorse for his actions. The judge also said he believed the two women gave truthful accounts of the rapes – which Banks had argued were untruthful.
“He has so much hatred toward women,” the judge said, referring to Banks’ interview with investigators, where he laid blame on the victims.
One of Bank’s victims, Katy Kuhlman, said during the trial that she assumed Banks, who used the alias “Rylan” on the ChristianMingle dating site, was “a good Christian man.”
Kuhlman held back tears as she read a statement in which she told the court:
“He said he was a Christian and almost everything that we talked about revolved around God.”
