South County : Public Asked to Help Find Youthful Rapist

Sheriff’s Department investigators are asking the public’s help in finding an unidentified man who is wanted for one rape in El Toro and one in Mission Viejo in July.

Sheriff’s Department Lt. Dick Olson said the suspect is 15 to 18 years old and about six feet tall, with a slight build. Victims said he has blond hair, is well-tanned and has a smooth complexion.

Both victims are teen-agers, Olson said. In one attack the rapist wore blue shorts, a red tank-top shirt and a royal blue knapsack. In the second, he wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved, striped shirt. The attacker may have used a bicycle to escape, Olson said.

Olson said the Sheriff’s Department has little hope of capturing the rapist without help from area residents. “We stopped and interviewed an awful lot of people down there, but we have no leads,” he said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is being asked to contact sheriff’s investigators Marty Yingling or Steve Bishop at (714) 834-3017 or (714) 834-3000.