Serial rapist convicted
A Lake Forest man was convicted Wednesday of raping five women and sexually assaulting a sixth, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a news release. One of the victims lived in Newport Beach.
A jury at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana found Sekayi Rudo White, 33, guilty of 14 felony counts related to assaulting a Newport Beach woman inside her apartment in December 2005 and raping five women around Orange County between 2002 and 2007.
He faces a maximum sentence of 119 years to life in state prison.
The felony counts on which White was convicted, include attempted rape, forcible rape, sexual battery by restraint, criminal threats, dissuading a witness by force and first-degree residential burglary, according to a news release from the D.A.
White met the 44-year-old Newport Beach woman in 2005 at the Irvine Spectrum and gave her a ride to her apartment, where he asked to use the restroom.
When White came out, he was nude and erect, and tried to assault her.
According to the release, he held her down and groped her breasts as he tried to remove her pants. He also threatened to kill her if she reported the attack, but the woman fought him off and he fled the scene.
In August 2006 at his Lake Forest home, White raped a 19-year-old woman whom he had met at a Huntington Beach bar.
The woman had passed out after he brought her back to his place. After she regained consciousness, he raped her after an unsuccessful first attempt, authorities said. Afterward he dropped her off at a convenience store.
White was arrested in October 2006 for the attacks on the two women.
He posted $250,000 bail for the charges. Police later learned that while out on bail, he raped a woman he was dating and her roommate.
In 2007, he raped a Lake Forest woman, who fled her apartment and called the police. He was re-arrested the following week, and a press release was issued publicizing his alleged crimes.
Three of the victims came forward to police after being alerted through media coverage.
White will be sentenced at 9 a.m. April 15 in Department C-45 at the Central Justice Center.