In an unusual twist in a nearly decade-long legal battle, a Vancouver landlord has won more than $500,000 in defamation damages from a woman who accused him of forcing sexual contact on her.
The case involving landlord Dave Campos and his accuser stretched from 2015 to 2024, with juries in both a criminal trial and civil trial siding with Campos.
Campos paid a settlement to the woman in between the two trials after acknowledging that he exposed himself to her but denying that he assaulted her.
Campos contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive about the resolution of his case. He said he wanted to draw attention to the verdicts to restore his reputation. A banker by trade, Campos said he also owns and manages several properties across the metro area.
He faulted media outlets for not following the developments in the case.
“I try not to let this define me, but a public stain that the media has left online has been a personal and emotional headwind for nearly a decade,” Campos said in a recent statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Accusations like the ones I experienced should be taken seriously in a court of law before they are aired in a court of public opinion.”
It started when Campos, now 44, met with a woman for an apartment showing at one of his properties on West McLoughlin Boulevard in Vancouver.
The woman claimed he forced her to touch his genitals, that he touched her breasts and that she was held against her will until she fled the scene, according to court records.
Campos acknowledged in a recorded interview with police that he exposed himself but said she had been sending him “signals,” according to the records. Campos said surveillance video contradicted her account of running away but instead showed the two calmly exiting a staircase.
Campos was arrested after the meeting and charged with indecent liberties with forcible compulsion and unlawful imprisonment in Clark County Superior Court. The Oregonian/OregonLive carried a brief account of his arrest.
In the woman’s account, Campos was taking advantage of a down-on-her-luck single mother with nowhere else to go, according to court papers filed by her attorney in the subsequent litigation. The landlord said he was falsely accused by the woman as part of a twisted “love triangle.”
In November 2016, a unanimous Clark County Superior Court jury acquitted Campos of both charges.
The woman filed a civil suit in Clark County in July 2017 seeking damages from Campos, alleging assault, battery and emotional distress.
Campos and his insurance company settled the lawsuit in April 2018 by paying $60,000 to the woman, according to court papers filed later by the woman’s attorney, Sean Riddell.
But Campos then sued the woman for defamation, citing social media posts by her in 2015 when Campus was under criminal indictment.
The second lawsuit ultimately went to trial in April 2024, with the woman representing herself after her attorney was deemed to be a potential witness due to the earlier settlement, court records show.
The civil jury awarded Campos $522,000 for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress.
In a recent email, the woman said she didn’t regret representing herself, even if she was now “financially burdened beyond repair.”
