Victims Sought in W. Hollywood Rapes

Los Angeles police are seeking possible victims of a young Russian-born man accused in a series of sexual assaults on women he met through the Russian community in West Hollywood.

Investigators with the sex crimes unit suspect that Vladimir Soroka, 18, may have attacked several women and that some victims may be reluctant to call police.

“Some victims of date rape do not feel confident about coming forward because they don’t feel they would be believed,” Los Angeles Police Det. Paul Bishop said Friday. “But we take these things very seriously.”

Soroka was charged with 19 felony counts including kidnapping, rape, assault and false imprisonment for two separate attacks in a secluded area north of Beverly Hills. Soroka, who is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He is scheduled for arraignment in Santa Monica Superior Court on Sept. 6. Soroka is also expected to be charged in a third incident, Bishop said.

Two of the assaults occurred in July and one in March. In one incident, a naked 15-year-old girl flagged down a passing motorist after she was attacked in a car near Mulholland Drive and Franklin Canyon Drive, Bishop said.

The girl told police that Soroka, who had promised to drive her home, tied her hair to the car’s steering wheel during the assault.

Anyone with information can call Bishop at (310) 575-8441.