Crime & Safety
Trial Starts in RUHS Sex Assault Case
Sylvester Gene Rawls, 46, is accused of forcing a 17-year-old student at Redondo Union High School to perform oral sex on him in August 2003.
Opening arguments began Friday in the case of the man accused of sexually assaulting a student at knifepoint in a bathroom in August 2003, the Daily Breeze reported.
According to reporter Larry Altman, the prosecutor's opening arguments emphasized the DNA match between semen found in the toilet and Long Beach resident Sylvester Gene Rawls, 46.
Nevertheless, Deputy Public Defender Sam Leonard told the jury that there is some doubt as to the DNA evidence and that the victim wasn't entirely certain during a preliminary hearing that it was Rawls who assaulted her.
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arrested Rawls in January 2011 after his DNA sample, which he was required to submit after he finished his probation for manufacturing PCP, matched the one on file in the sexual assault case.
If convicted, Rawls, who is charged with two counts of forcible oral copulation, faces a sentence of life in prison.
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- Full story: Prosecutor: DNA links man to 2003 sexual assault at Redondo Union High [Daily Breeze]
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