Alleged DNA Match Points Finger At Ex-Con In 2003 High School Restroom Sex Attack

TORRANCE (CBS)  — An ex-con was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint in a restroom at Redondo Union High School in August 2003.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Hector Guzman found sufficient evidence to require Sylvester Gene Rawls, 46, of Long Beach to stand trial on two felony counts of forcible oral copulation.

Rawls was linked to the Aug. 28, 2003, attack through DNA evidence, according to prosecutors.

He gave the state a DNA sample after being convicted in federal court of conspiracy to manufacture PCP, authorities said shortly after his Jan. 10 arrest.

Rawls is due back in court for arraignment on May 25.

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