| For Immediate Release April 28, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Kang Schroeder Deputy District Attorney (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 292-2718 Cell |
OCDA FILES KIDNAPPING, RAPE, AND SODOMY CHARGES AFTER DNA COLD HIT LINKS MAN WHO WAS 17 AT TIME OF CRIME
WESTMINSTER — The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) filed kidnapping, forcible rape, and forcible sodomy charges on a man who was 17-years-old at the time of the crime. Mustafa Tarin, now 22, of Irvine, faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted on all counts. Tarin’s bail will be set this afternoon when he is in court at 1:30 p.m. in W-14 or W-15, West Justice Center, in Westminster.
On December 25, 2000, Tarin is accused of hanging around at a motel where Jane Doe’s friends lived. The defendant and another suspect are accused of luring Jane Doe, 14, into the car under the pretext of driving her home. Instead of allowing the victim to get out of the car when driving past her home, they are accused of locking the doors and holding her down on the floor. They are accused of giving her a “funny” tasting drink, taking her to a park, kidnapping her to a dark and deserted area with the intent to commit sex offenses, and taking turns raping and sodomizing her. The defendant is accused of refusing to stop when Jane Doe told them they were hurting her and struggled against their force.
The case went unsolved for more than five years. Earlier this year, the Orange County Crime Lab linked the defendant’s DNA to the evidence found on Jane Doe’s rape kit collected by law enforcement at the time of the incident. The Garden Grove Police Department continued to investigate the crime and collected additional evidence.
The defendant was required to give a DNA sample when he was arrested for a felony in 2005 after the passage of Proposition 69. The OCDA is able to file theses charges on the defendant directly as an adult after the passage of Proposition 21 in 2000.
“We need to continue to make legal reforms in order to treat violent juveniles who commit adult crimes as adults. As we get more DNA samples into the data base, we will be able to solve more crimes and bring more criminals to justice,” stated District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
Deputy District Attorney Kal Kaliban of the Sexual Assaults Unit is prosecuting this case.
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