Serial Rapist To Go Free | Kitten Rescue: 7 Must-Read SoCal Stories

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Good evening, Southland Patch readers!

Here are five top stories from Southern California:

1. The infamous Pillowcase Rapist who assaulted dozens of women, including attacks that occurred in between prison stints, will be freed from prison. Plans for his placement in Southern California come over the objections of law enforcement officials and community members (Read more on Patch).

2. A 5-year-old boy is recovering after a mountain lion attacked him during a family picnic. State Park officials responded to the scene and shot the puma (Read more on Patch).

3. A Good Samaitan's effort to rescue a kitten led to a crash on a busy Southern California freeway. Here is how it all turned out (Read more on Patch).

4. Police in Southern California have seized an illegal card skimmer from a gas station that was almost impossible to detect (Read more on Patch).

5. In a crackdown on a major Southern California child sex-trafficking hub — where victims are as young as 11, undressed women and girls are forced to stroll down the street, and one pimp branded his victims — authorities are going after pimps, Johns, and complicit motels (Read more on Patch).

5. A Southland killer who doused his victims in gasoline, threw matches at them and burned them alive has been sentenced to prison (Read more on Patch).

6. Officials say ramped-up traffic enforcement on PCH has paid off. A dramatic spike in speed tickets has come with a notable drop in crashes (Read more on Patch).

7. SeaWorld San Diego will host an inaugural Howl-O-Sprint 5K Run/Walk. Participants will adventure along a 3.1-mile course through the grounds of the theme park. There will also be a one-mile Kids Fun Run (Read more on Patch).