For Immediate Release | Susan Kang Schroeder Farrah Emami |
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER FACES TRIAL FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 17-YEAR-OLD ON SIDE
OF ROAD AFTER INTENTIONALLY CAUSING
FENDER-BENDER
SANTA ANA – A registered sex offender faces trial today for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl on the side of the road after intentionally causing a minor car crash to force her to pull over. Rasaan Raymon Patton, 31, Perris, Riverside County, is charged with one felony count each of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, attempted forcible rape, sexual penetration by foreign object by force, sexual battery by restraint, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for having a prior felony sex conviction for a 1999 rape by intoxication in Riverside County. If convicted on all counts, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. Opening statements are expected to begin today, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Department C-35, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
At approximately 2:40 a.m. on June 21, 2008, 17-year-old Jane Doe was driving home alone in her parents’ mini-van. Patton, who does not know Jane Doe, is accused of following the victim in another car and intentionally causing a minor car crash to get her to pull over.
When Jane Doe got out of her car, Patton is accused of forcing her to the other side of the vehicle, out of sight of passing traffic, and forcibly sexually assaulting 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.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jana Hoffmann of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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