A Santa Clarita man accused of posing as a ride-share driver and sexually assaulting multiple women over a period of 15 months in Los Angeles County is expected to be arraigned Tuesday on more than two dozen counts, prosecutors said.
Nicolas Morales, 44, was described as an “alleged serial rapist,” in a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He is accused of raping and sexually assaulting seven women while posing as ride-sharing driver between October 2016 and January 2018, prosecutors said.
Morales has been charged with a total of 27 felony counts, including nine counts of forcible oral copulation, six counts of rape, five counts of sodomy by use of force and four counts of sexual penetration by foreign object, the release stated.
He was also charged with one count each of assault with intent to commit a felony, attempted sodomy by use of force and attempted kidnapping to commit another crime.
Morales is alleged to have used a knife in some of the attacks, which occurred in areas throughout the county including Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Los Angeles and Alhambra.
If convicted as charged, the defendant faces up to 300 years in prison and would have to register as a lifetime sex offender.
Morales was arrested last Friday afternoon by the Alhambra Police Department, inmate records showed. He is being held on $1 million at the Men’s Central Jail near downtown L.A.
At his arraignment Tuesday, prosecutors will ask the judge to increase his bail to $10.3 million, according to the release.
Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the case, including the Alhambra and Los Angeles police departments and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
from KTLA http://ift.tt/2ouyCND
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