| For Immediate Release Case # 09CF0923 June 28, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 17-YEAR-OLD ON SIDE OF ROAD AFTER CAUSING FENDER-BENDER
SANTA ANA – A registered sex offender was convicted today of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl on the side of the road after causing a minor car crash which forced her to pull over. Rasaan Raymon Patton, 31, Perris, Riverside County, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count each of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, attempted forcible rape, sexual penetration by foreign object by force, and sexual battery by restraint. He faces a sentencing enhancement allegation for having a prior felony sex conviction for a 1999 rape by intoxication in Riverside County. Patton faces a mandatory sentence of life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration at his sentencing Aug. 24, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-35, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At approximately 2:40 a.m. on June 21, 2008, 17-year-old Jane Doe was driving home alone in her parents’ minivan. Patton, who does not know Jane Doe, followed the victim in another car and caused a minor car crash which forced her to pull over.
When Jane Doe got out of her car, Patton forced her to the other side of the vehicle, out of sight of passing traffic, and forcibly digitally penetrated her. Patton then pulled down the victim’s underwear with the intention of raping her. Jane Doe was able to escape and flee after the defendant got startled by passing cars.
Jane Doe drove home and later went to the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) at approximately 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. A report was taken and HBPD investigated the case.
Forensic evidence was collected from the scene including a partial handprint from the right rear door of the victim’s car. On April 9, 2009, the handprint from the car was matched to Patton’s fingerprints. The defendant was arrested by HBPD detectives on April 13, 2009, at his home in Riverside County.
Patton’s lifetime sex offender registration bars him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance if he were to be granted parole in the future. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 13 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.