Rape Los Angeles

Authorities looked Thursday for other possible victims of a man charged with raping at least two women and attacking three others in the unincorporated Florence area of Los Angeles County. Amando Sanders, 20, has pleaded not guilty to an amended 16-count felony complaint accusing him of rape, forcible oral copulation, second-degree robbery, sexual battery by restraint, assault with intent to commit a felony and false imprisonment by violence. The two rapes allegedly occurred on Jan.

A 22-year-old Los Angeles man was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in prison for committing two rapes last year, one of a minor. Matthew Gonzalez, the so-called "teardrop rapist" was also sentenced to a separate term of 18 years on two counts arising from the assaults. His indeterminate sentence of 50 years to life will run consecutively to the 18-year sentence, prosecutors said. Deputy Dist. Atty.

The 21-year-old grandson of state Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), slated to go on trial next month on charges of sex with a minor, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault and underage sex with a different female juvenile. Michael Mountjoy was arrested at Brackett Field, a small airport in La Verne where he is employed, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Bruce Thomas. Mountjoy was held on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor and sexual assault, Thomas said.

Parents were being held in two separate cases of the beating deaths of babies, police said Tuesday. In one case, a 15-year-old Koreatown girl allegedly beat her 9-month-old son, who died of brain trauma. In the second case, a 25-year-old Sun Valley man was arrested on suspicion of molesting and beating to death his 3-month-old daughter. Both parents were in custody Tuesday, officials said.

Police searched Monday for a man who broke into a home and sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman, officials said. Police said the man broke a window to get inside a home in the 15900 block of Gresham Street about 10 p.m. Sunday and assaulted the woman. Two other family members were in another area of the house at the time and did not hear anything, said Marlo Lopez de Haro, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.

Los Angeles police Monday searched for a man accused of breaking into a home and sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman, officials said. Police said the man broke a window to get inside a home in the 15900 block of Gresham Street about 10 p.m. Sunday and assaulted the woman. Two family members were in another area of the house at the time but did not hear anything, LAPD spokeswoman Marlo Lopez de Haro said.

A 23-year-old man was sentenced to consecutive life terms Wednesday for robbing two couples at gunpoint and sexually assaulting the women. Joseph Navar Downey was convicted of 10 counts of rape, robbery and kidnapping last month for two separate attacks in 1999 that began on the same block of Ventura Boulevard. The crimes were committed within a 40-day span.

Los Angeles police are searching for a man who allegedly raped a woman near St. Patrick School. The assailant allegedly attacked a 21-year-old woman in the 10600 block of Erwin Street, LAPD Sgt. John Pasquariello said Friday. The man forced the woman into bushes near the parochial school's faculty parking lot and assaulted her Thursday at 10:15 a.m., authorities said. According to police, the assailant is suspected of also attacking a 27-year-old female jogger at 7:15 p.m.

Former death row inmate Kenneth Crandell, working persistently for the last two decades, nearly appealed his way to freedom. His death sentence became a life term. He eventually was granted a new trial. Over the years, witnesses died and evidence against him was lost. But on Monday, Crandell was found guilty once again of the first-degree murders of Ernest and Edward Pruett, the North Hollywood father and son who were shot in the head in their home in 1980.

Another hearing was set Tuesday for the man suspected of posing as a talent scout to lure 14 UCLA students to his apartment and secretly videotaping his sexual assaults on them. Michael Peers, 50, is due back in court April 4. He remains jailed, with bond set at $38,500. Prosecutors and defenders said they are still reviewing evidence, but expect the trial to begin April 14. The UCLA women allegedly were lured to an apartment in 1998 with promises of jobs in the entertainment industry.