Suspected
rapist pleads not guilty
By Ruth Estrada
On-line Forty-Niner
The
suspected Belmont Shore rapist pleaded not
guilty to a dozen rape charges in Long Beach
and surrounding areas Thursday.
Long
Beach Police Department Sgt. Paul LeBaron
said that the investigation of the suspected
rapist, Mark Wayne Rathbun, has been turned
over to the District Attorney’s office.
“The
case is in the hands of the district attorney,
and everything that we are doing now is
working with the district attorney, who’s
handling the case,” LeBaron said.
Deputy
District Attorney Richard Goul was not available
for comment.
According
to LBPD Cmdr. Linda Beardsley, Rathbun was
originally arrested on Nov. 7 for possession
of a crack pipe, but was released after
posting a $250 bail. Later that week, on
Nov. 10, police arrested the suspect after
linking DNA evidence that connected him
to a dozen rapes in the city of Long Beach
and one rape in Seattle.
Shortly
after the suspect was caught, LeBaron said
that Rathbun had willingly provided DNA
samples to the police department, which
then identified the suspect as a positive
match in the rapes.
When
the suspect was first tied to the rapes,
Goul said that Rathbun has been a resident
of long Beach since he was a teenager. He
also said that Rathbun had been arrested
for being “a peeping tom,” around the age
of 17 and that Rathbun had also been arrested
for burglary in 1989.
The
LBPD was continuing to investigate 18 different
rape cases that may be connected to Rathbun,
Goul said.
If
convicted the suspect could serve to 500
years in prison. In the meantime, the suspect
is being held on $2 million bail.
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