Suspect
arrested for rapes in L.B.
By Adrienne Figueroa
On-line Forty-Niner
Long
Beach police arrested the man believed to
be the Belmont Shore rapist in Oxnard Sunday
after DNA evidence connected him to a dozen
rapes in Long Beach and surrounding areas.
 Mark
Wayne Rathbun, 32, was initially arrested
Thursday in Long Beach for possession of
a crack pipe, LBPD Cmdr. Linda Beardsley
said in a press conference Monday. The suspect
was released after posting $250 bail.
Long
Beach police arrested Rathbun Sunday in
Oxnard after linking the suspect to 12 rapes
in the Long Beach area and one rape in Seattle.
The LBPD had been working collaboratively
with the FBI as well as Seattle and local
police departments on the case.
“I
think we have the Belmont Shore rapist in
custody,” Long Beach Police Chief Anthony
Batts said at the press conference.
Using
DNA samples that had been willingly provided
to the LBPD by Rathbun Thursday, police
identified the suspect as a positive match
in the rapes, LBPD Sgt. Paul LeBaron said.
Other
than corroborating that Rathbun was tied
to the rapes, genetic testing showed that
he possessed “a very rare DNA profile,”
Beardsley said. Police are unable to elaborate
on what type of DNA samples, she added.
Rathbun
has been a resident of Long Beach since
he was a teenager, Long Beach Deputy District
Attorney Richard Goul said. Rathbun’s first
arrest occurred in Long Beach around age
17 for being a “peeping tom,” Goul added.
Rathbun was also arrested in 1989 for burglary.
The
suspect is being held on $2 million bail.
If convicted, Rathbun may serve 500 years
to life, Guild said.
In
the meantime, the LBPD will proceed to analyze
18 additional rape cases in the Long Beach
area in which Rathbun may be linked, Goul
said.
Rape
victims in these cases have been contacted
about the investigation, Batts said.
“They
were ecstatic and very pleased that we made
the arrest,” Batts said.
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