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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who was paralyzed during a neighborhood watch dispute in 2009 was ordered Thursday to stand trial on unrelated charges of having unlawful sex with a minor.
David Serbeck, 38, is facing three counts of unlawful sex with a minor, a third-degree felony, for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl on three separate occasions more in the summer of 2007. Prosecutors had originally indicated the incidents occurred in late 2006.
The now 21-year-old girl testified of the sexual encounters in the 3rd District Court during a preliminary hearing. The girl said she first met Serbeck in the spring of 2007 at her dad's house in Magna. Serbeck showed the teen exotic snakes, and she said she later went to his home where he showed her a new snake in his basement.
During her second visit to Serbeck's home, the two were sitting on a couch when he started telling her "personal issues," she testified.
Serbeck used information about the teen's struggle with depression that he had learned from her father to gain her trust, she said. The relationship allegedly became physical at that point.
Following her testimony, Judge Randall Skanchy ordered Serbeck to stand trial on the charges.
"He had some personal information about her, if you will, that he used to groom her ... to take advantage of her," said her attorney, Greg Skordas, outside the courtroom. "She was young, she was very vulnerable."
The two met several more times and had sex on three occasions in his home before the relationship ended at the end of the summer 2007, she said.
Serbeck and his attorneys declined to commented as they left the courtroom.
If convicted, Serbeck could face zero-to-five years in prison for each of the three counts he's facing.
Serbeck was previously the victim in another trial in which a jury convicted Reginald Campos of attempted murder and aggravated assault after shooting Serbeck and severing his spine. Serbeck was paralyzed from the waste down and is confined to a wheelchair.
According to court testimony, Serbeck and another man were patrolling their neighborhood in an SUV when they came across two teenage girls walking — one of whom was Campos' daughter. The daughter testified that she was later aggressively followed by the SUV and told her father, who grabbed his gun and drove around looking for the SUV.
Campos confronted the men and fired two shots at Serbeck. Campos was sentenced to three years to life in prison.
Serbeck's next hearing is scheduled for April 11.
E-mail:sgarn@ksl.com
