Belmont rape suspect caught

Jose Paul Corona

Long Beach police believe they have arrested the “Belmont Shore

rapist,” who is believed to have sexually assaulted 13 women since

1996.

On Sunday, police arrested Long Beach resident Mark Wayne Rathbun,

32, who they suspect is responsible for a series of sexual assaults

that have taken place in the cities of Long Beach, Huntington Beach,

Los Alamitos and Seattle, Wash. since 1996.

“He was booked on numerous counts of burglary with the intent to

commit sexual assault and rape, as well as sexual assault crimes,”

Long Beach Police Sgt. Paul LeBaron said.

There could be multiple counts on any of the charges, LeBaron

said.

Police first arrested Rathbun on Nov. 7. They had gotten a call

about a burglary they believed was tied to the Belmont Shore rapist.

Police spotted Rathbun riding his bicycle in the area and detained

him, LeBaron said.

“We stopped him because he was a potential suspect, because it was

1 a.m. in the morning [and] he was driving fast,” he said.

Rathbun consented to a search, and police found that he was

carrying a crack pipe. He was taken into custody and made bail 24

hours later, LeBaron said.

Rathbun was one of three persons that police questioned that

night, LeBaron added. Rathbun consented to giving police a DNA

sample.

Believing that he was the rapist, police immediately set up

surveillance on Rathbun while they waited for the lab results to come

back.

“We never let him out of our sight,” LeBaron said.

Police followed Rathbun to Oxnard, where he went to help a friend

move, and arrested him immediately after the DNA results came back,

LeBaron said.

DNA collected at the crime scenes connect Rathbun to 13 rapes,

police said. Nine of the attacks took place in Long Beach, two took

place in Huntington Beach, and one took place in Los Alamitos. A rape

that took place in Seattle dates back to 1996.

The most recent Huntington Beach attack that was attributed to

Rathbun took place on Aug. 13. A 74-year-old woman was attacked in

her home.

If convicted on all of the charges, Rathbun could face 500 years

in prison.