| For Immediate Release Case # 13CF0765
March 7, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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OCDA LOCAL DATABASE LINKS MAN TO STRANGER-RAPE OF UNDERAGE TEEN IN TUSTIN PARK
SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Office has linked a man to a stranger-rape of an underage teen in a Tustin park after a local DNA database hit. Chase Jeffrey White, 21, Tustin, is charged with one felony count of rape in concert. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. White was arrested on March 5, 2013, by Tustin Police officers and is being held on $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today, March 7, 2013, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
At approximately 10:00 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2012, White and his male friend are accused of walking in Centennial Park in Tustin and approaching then-17-year-old Jane Doe. The two men did not know the victim. White is accused of having his friend forcibly hold down Jane Doe while the defendant raped the victim. The defendant and his friend are then accused of fleeing the scene.
Once home, the victim reported the rape to the Tustin Police Department. During the investigation, DNA was collected and uploaded into the OCDA local DNA database. On Feb. 19, 2013, a DNA hit linked White to the rape.
White’s friend is now deceased and was not charged in this case.
If convicted, White’s lifetime sex offender registration would bar him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 14 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Anaheim, Fountain Valley, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Varner of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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