Reseda Man Convicted of Attacking 5 Area Females

A Reseda man was convicted Wednesday of attacking four teenage girls and an 18-year-old Northridge woman in the San Fernando Valley over a period of about a year.

The Van Nuys Superior Court jury deliberated about two hours before convicting 25-year-old Jose Perez of nine felony counts, including one count of attempted forcible rape, three counts of attempted kidnapping and five counts of assault with intent to commit a felony.

Perez also was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge.

The attempted rape charge involved a March 19, 2009, attack on a 10th- grade student at the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in Reseda. The girl, who was 16 at the time, was sitting at a table after school when she was attacked and dragged into some bushes, according to LAPD Detective Ninette Toosbuy.

The teen suffered three fractures to her eye socket during the attack, in which the assailant tried to pull her pants down as she screamed for help, according to the detective.

The other crimes involved a 15-year-old girl in Reseda in May 2009, a 14- year-old girl in Reseda in November 2009, an April 2010 attack on a 14-year- old girl waiting for her brother in front of a Van Nuys elementary school and an 18-year-old woman walking home in Northridge on April 28, 2010, the detective said.

He is facing up to life in prison, with sentencing set for June 13 before Judge Michael Kellogg.

-- City News Service