REDWOOD CITY – A 47-year-old Pacifica man pleaded no contest to drugging and raping his girlfriend’s 18-year-old daughter in a Redwood City courtroom on Thursday. 

Paul David Messersmith, who lived with his girlfriend and her daughter, served the daughter a bowl of ice cream laced with a prescription sleeping medication on December 11, 2013, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. 

The victim noticed a bitter taste to the ice cream and found a small piece of a pill in it, but Messersmith told her it was probably an ice cream additive, Wagstaffe said. 

The victim began to feel woozy and became immobile, blacking out briefly, Wagstaffe said. 

Messersmith carried the victim into a bedroom and raped her while she was unable to resist, Wagstaffe said. 

The victim told her mother the next day, and her mother called the police.  The victim told police there had been a previous incident where Messersmith gave her something to eat or drink that tasted strange, and she woke up in a hotel room with Messersmith fondling her, Wagstaffe said. 

Messersmith accepted a plea deal that includes 21 years in prison and registering as a sex offender for the rest of his life.