MAN IDENTIFIED THROUGH DNA CONVICTED OF ROBBING, KIDNAPPING, AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STORE EMPLOYEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 16WF1326

Date: May 25, 2018

MAN IDENTIFIED THROUGH DNA CONVICTED OF ROBBING, KIDNAPPING, AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STORE EMPLOYEE

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man identified through a DNA hit was convicted yesterday of robbing, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting a store employee in 2012.

Defendant

Charges

Sentence

Danny Thien Nguyen, 28, Garden Grove

Pleaded guilty yesterday, May 24, 2018, to one felony count each of:

  • Sexual penetration by foreign object and force
  • Kidnapping to commit a sex offense
  • Second degree burglary
  • Second degree robbery
  • Assault with a deadly weapon

Sentencing Enhancement (Admitted)

  • Personal use of a deadly weapon

22 years in state prison

 

Mandatory sex offender registration pursuant to PC 290

Circumstances of the Case

  • At approximately 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2012, Nguyen entered a business on the 9000 block of Talbert Avenue in Fountain Valley.
  • Jane Doe was working alone inside the business at the time. Nguyen robbed Jane Doe at gunpoint and ordered the victim to a back room in the business and sexually assaulted her against her will.
  • DNA samples were collected from the crime scene but the defendant was not identified.
  • On Oct. 3, 2012, Nguyen pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted second degree robbery and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon for a crime that took place on Jan. 7, 2012 (Case # 12WF0733). As part of his sentence, Nguyen was required to submit a DNA sample to the national DNA database, Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
  • In March 2016, the DNA samples from the crime scene were processed. In June 2016, the Orange County Crime Lab received a CODIS DNA hit linking Nguyen to the unsolved sexual assault.
  • On June 23, 2016, officers from the Fountain Valley Police Department (FVPD) arrested Nguyen.
  • FVPD investigated this case.

Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Lexie Elliott, Sexual Assault Unit