Man sentenced for raping girl he met on Snapchat

A Bodega Bay man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to raping a 15-yearold girl he met on social media.

Peter Duranceau, 26, was sentenced Monday as a result of his plea, made in February, to 10 counts, including burglary to commit a sex offense; a lewd act with a minor; sexual penetration of a minor; communication online with a minor to commit a sexual offense, and possession of child pornography.

Duranceau must register as a sex offender, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.

“This defendant has engaged in predatory conduct toward young females on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, even with court intervention, his criminal behavior escalated,” District Attorney Jill Ravitch said.

An investigation began in January 2021 after the girl reported to Santa Rosa police that she had been raped by Duranceau, who surrendered to authorities three months later.

An investigation determined Duranceau met the teen via Snapchat and convinced her to meet him in Santa Rosa, where he raped her twice between November and December 2020, authorities said.

According to the district attorney's Office, investigators reviewed Duranceau's Snapchat account and discovered he had conversations with other underage girls, sent them inappropriate videos and requested inappropriate photos.

Last year, police said Duranceau unsuccessfully tried to convince a second girl to meet him.

At the time, Duranceau was on probation for a previous conviction involving inappropriate activity with minors, according to the prosecution.

In 2016, he was convicted of distributing harmful pornographic materials after Sebastopol police arrested him in December 2015 on suspicion of sending lewd texts, including photos of his genitals, to two girls ages 13 and 14.

Duranceau was arrested again in February 2019 while attending Santa Rosa Junior College. He was accused of using the campus email system to communicate with girls, a violation of his probation following his 2016 conviction.

His probation terms prohibited him from having social media accounts and using electronic means to contact people for noneducational purposes, investigators said in 2019.

An investigation uncovered at least 15 emails Duranceau sent to campus staff and students at random.