Suspect Ordered to Trial in Rapes of Schoolgirls
A South-Central Los Angeles man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on felony charges alleging that he abducted and raped young girls as they walked to school.
After a half-day preliminary hearing, Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Elva Soper ruled that there is enough evidence to prosecute Kevin Samuel on the seven-count criminal complaint. Samuel, 23, was arrested March 8 after police launched a highly publicized manhunt for the person responsible for a series of sexual assaults on girls ages 9 to 14.
Samuel initially was charged with two counts each of molestation and kidnaping in connection with attacks on two girls. Three charges were added after the discovery of two more alleged victims, prosecutors said. Samuel was taken into custody after a parent spotted him near the Martin Luther King Elementary School.
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