Man Facing Deportation Linked To 2001 Abduction, Rape In Orange

SANTA ANA (CBS) — A man facing deportation was charged Wednesday with the rape of a young woman he allegedly abducted at a bus stop in Orange a decade ago.

Raul Moreno-Perez, 32, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in the kidnapping of a 19-year-old woman on Nov. 3, 2001. Moreno-Perez, who prosecutors say forcibly raped the woman in his car, was linked to the crime through DNA.

Moreno-Perez, who was arrested at his girlfriend's home in Fontana, is being held on $1 million bail in this case and is also subject to a no-bail immigration hold. He was facing a deportation hearing at the time of his arrest.

Prosecutors say Moreno-Perez drove up to the woman as she waited at a bus stop on Main Street in Orange and offered to give her a ride. When she declined, he drove away. However, Moreno-Perez allegedly went back to the bus stop, got out of his car to sit next to her.

Moreno-Perez put his arm around the woman and told her he wanted to take her home, prosecutors said. When she refused, he allegedly forced the victim to get into his car, slapping her as she tried to resist.

According to prosecutors, Moreno-Perez drove her to a parking lot behind a grocery store in Garden Grove, where she tried to escape. He allegedly chased and pushed her before forcing her back to the car. Once inside, Moreno-Perez raped the woman and forced her to orally copulate him, prosecutors said.

After the woman was able to escape and report the sexual assault, Orange police officer collected DNA, but the case went cold.

Moreno-Perez's DNA was collected and added to the district attorney's local DNA database after he pleaded guilty to DUI stemming from a January 2009 arrest. Four days before submitting his guilty plea in that arrest, he was arrested again on suspicion of DUI and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 3 in that case.

The day after Moreno-Perez's DNA was added to the database, he was linked to the 2001 rape, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Moreno-Perez faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison.

Anyone with more information about Moreno-Perez or who believes they may have been a victim can call Orange Police Detective Jennifer Amat at (714) 744-7302 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.