SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) A man who robbed a dozen women along an
Orange County bicycle trail and raped one of them was sentenced
Friday to 44 years to life in prison.
Jonathan Rodas, 20, of Santa Ana had been jailed since May 2003.
He was convicted in June of 17 charges, including rape and assault
with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors said teenagers to women in their 50s were victimized
by Rodas.
The man accosted the women on the Pacific Electric Bicycle
Trail, threatening them with a knife or an ice pick, prosecutors
said.
He stole their jewelry and sexually assaulted a woman in her 50s
after following her home, prosecutors said.
The defense argued that Rodas was misidentified and police got
the wrong person.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)