Police confirm they are aware a sexual predator named 'Pirate' is in the Redding area
REDDING, Calif. (KRCR) - The Redding Police Department has confirmed with KRCR they are aware a sexually violent predator named Daniel Selovich, who has legally changed his name to Pirate, is in the Redding area.
Pirate has a lengthy criminal past and has been circulating on social media over the last few days after the public recognized him within the City of Redding. Pirate is easy to spot because of his dark tattoos covering most of his face.
According to KSNV, court records show Pirate was charged with sexual assault, battery to commit sexual assault, and first-degree kidnapping after a mentally and physically disabled woman in a wheelchair in Las Vegas called police from a motel on February 5, 2004, to report that she had been beaten with a belt and raped.
The woman told police Pirate broke into her motel room and committed the crime.
In this incident, police briefly detained Pirate at the time and took photos of him wearing the belt the victim said he had been used to beat her. Pirate's belt was seized as evidence, along with other items from the victim's room.
Then on December 14 of that same year, a woman was raped by a stranger in Redding, who was later determined to be Pirate, after he approached her under the Cypress Avenue Bridge.
Both cases went unsolved for years.
But in 2010, Pirate was arrested in New Mexico for the Redding rape case. He pleaded no contest in the Redding rape case and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Once he was out of prison, Pirate moved to Alaska in 2015 where he was accused of committing one of his most horrific crimes but was never convicted.
According to KSNV, Pirate solicited to fly a woman up to Alaska to join him in his remote cabin to explore off-grid living.
A woman arrived in Fairbanks to join him at his remote property south of Manley Hot Springs and something she could have never imagined happened to her.
According to court documents, the woman that flew out to join Pirate was subject to torture and assault over a five-week period. The woman was sexually assaulted by Pirate daily, beaten, kicked, bitten, cut with a knife and duct-taped to Pirate at night so she couldn't escape, according to prosecutors. Authorities said Pirate used a rope to tether her neck to a ceiling rafter, keeping her captive during the day. Prosecutors also say Pirate threatened to “cut her face off".
After five weeks, the woman was eventually able to call for help and was rescued by a helicopter on November 8, 2015.
Pirate was arrested and charged with rape and kidnapping.
Then, right before the trial, the victim in the Alaska case died of natural causes and the charges were dismissed against Pirate.
However, DNA from the Alaska case linked Pirate to the unsolved rape case in Las Vegas in the 2004 attack on the disabled woman at the motel room. Pirate was then extradited to Nevada in October 2016 and he agreed to a plea agreement for a single count of "sexually motivated coercion".
For the Las Vegas rape case, Pirate was sentenced to four years in prison.
Now, Pirate is back in Redding and the Redding Police Department says they have made contact with him and are aware he is in the area.
Pirate was contacted by Redding Police on Sunday but was not arrested.
Police say he is currently not wanted for any crimes.
