OAKLAND — A South Lake Tahoe man pleaded no contest to statutory rape of a teen girl he met online, settling his 10-count felony case through a plea deal, court records show.
Damien Silver, 43, was initially charged with 10 felonies related to alleged sexual abuse of an Oakland girl. Police said at the time of his June 2025 arrest that he drove from his home to meet the girl when she was on a break from high school in Oakland, and that the crimes occurred inside his car.
In January, Silver pleaded no contest to a single count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and the remainder of the case was dismissed. He received six months of house arrest with electronic monitoring, a two-year probation term, and he was ordered to stay away from the girl, court records show.
Silver’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Benjamin Hall, wrote in court filings that Silver was “truly remorseful” and that the girl “played a role” in the crime by being a “willing participant.”
The girl told police agreed to meet Silver on May 15 after the two chatted online, but that her friend walked with her to the meet up and left her with the words, “If you are not back to school by noon, I will call the police.” The girl later said in a police interview she was “tense throughout the entire experience and did not want to flee as she was afraid of what Silver may do to her,” but that she came up with a “ruse” to get away and filed a police report that day, investigators said in court records.
Silver remained free for the duration of the case, after posting $100,000 bail, court records show.