Suspect In Home Invasion Rape Of Tween May Have More Victims: DA

LOS ANGELES, CA — Two men suspected of violent sexual assaults in Los Angeles County may have additional victims given their patterns of arrests, authorities warned Tuesday.

Investigators are seeking additional victims of a man suspected of breaking into a Culver City home and raping a 12-year-old girl as she slept in her bedroom and another man who posed as a police officer to rob and sexually batter a woman in a Long Beach parking garage.

"We believe that given their history, both of them may have additional victims out there," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.

The Culver City case sent shockwaves through the community, rattling resident's sense of safety in their own homes following the Dec. 2 attack. Investigators worked aggressively to crack the case after a man broke into a family's home and threatened, bound and raped a child over as her parents slept nearby.

Last week, police announced the arrest of Marcos C. Maldonado, 35, a Kern County resident allegedly linked to the attack by DNA evidence. He was arrested on the I-5 Freeway after leaving a downtown Los Angeles hotel and boarding a bus headed toward Bakersfield, California.

The complaint alleges he committed the offenses during the commission of a burglary and that he "engaged in the tying or binding of the victim or another person."

"We do not believe that Maldonado, the suspect in this case, had any prior contact with the family prior to this crime," Culver City Police Chief Jason Sims said. "We believe he entered the residence through an unlocked sliding door."

The defendant allegedly went into the house in the early morning hours and authorities believe he left at about 7 a.m. after telling the girl there was a man with a gun outside the home and that her family would be killed if she reported what occurred, according to police.

It wasn't the first time Maldonado had been arrested though he had never previously been convicted of any sex crimes, according to police.

Maldonado "does have a prior felony conviction and a criminal history, but no prior sex crime convictions," according to the police chief.

The district attorney said Maldonado has been arrested multiple times in Kern County, saying "there are some incidents that he was arrested and the cases were not filed for sexually related conduct so we believe that this may be a pattern ..."

His history and the brazen nature of the crime led authorities to believe there could be additional victims who haven't come forward, according to police.

"While we have no reports of additional crimes of this nature in the Culver City area, we are collaborating with other law enforcement agencies to identify any additional victims," Sims said.

After the attack, the victim told her parents to call the police, the girl's mother told reporters.

"She's a soldier," the unnamed mother told NBC4. "She's good on the outside. I think in time we will see what the damage is."

Maldonado, who pleaded not guilty Monday to five felony counts was being held in lieu of $1.25 million bail. Gascón said prosecutors will seek to have Maldonado detained without bail.

He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged, according to Gascón said Tuesday.

Also, on Tuesday, Authorities sought additional victims of Martin Lopez, 55, a Los Angeles man suspected of impersonating a police officer and detaining a woman as she walked to car Dec. 27 in Long Beach.

"He ordered her to open her car door and sit in the passenger seat and she complied, believing him to be a real police officer," Gascón said, telling reporters that the assailant allegedly demanded the woman's wallet, phone and purse and allegedly displayed what the woman believed to be a handgun when she tried to stand up.

Lopez was arrested Jan. 4 after detectives spotted him driving in Long Beach, said Don Mauk, Long Beach Police Department's Deputy Chief of Investigations.

Handcuffs and a fake badge were recovered when two search warrants were subsequently served, Mauk said. He described Lopez as having an "extensive criminal history for violent felonies."

Lopez is set to be arraigned Jan. 24 on one felony count each of sexual battery by restraint, second-degree robbery and attempted kidnapping to commit another crime involving the alleged attack in Long Beach.

He has convictions from 1996 for kidnapping and robbery and from 2008 for assault with a deadly weapon and robbery.

Anyone with further information about Lopez was asked to call Long Beach police at 562-570-7368, while anyone with information about Maldonado was asked to Culver City Police Department’s Public Information Officer Jennifer Atenza at (310) 658-2891 or email jennifer.atenza@culvercity.org.

TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH, City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.