Victim Testifies in RUHS Sex Assault Trial

The victim of a 2003 sexual assault at took the stand Monday as part of the prosecution's case against the man charged with the crime, the Daily Breeze reported.

Long Beach resident Sylvester Gene Rawls, 46, is charged with two counts of forcible oral copulation. If convicted, he faces a sentence of life in prison.

During her testimony, the 25-year-old victim testified in graphic detail about how a man shoved his way into her stall in the school bathroom and threatened her at knifepoint, Larry Altman reported in the Breeze. The man, who authorities believe to be Rawls, forced the then-17-year-old cheerleader to perform oral sex on him.

She spit his semen into the toilet, which allowed police to later collect a DNA sample, authorities said. After the assault, she helped police create a composite sketch of her assailant.

The victim, who identified Rawls in court, said she remembered the man's nose and mouth, Altman reported. The composite sketch and the mug shot of Rawls provided by the show a striking similarity in the nose and mouth area.

Police arrested Rawls in January 2011, less than a month after a sample of Rawls' DNA was matched to the sample on file in the case. He was required to provide his DNA after he finished his probation for an earlier conviction for manufacturing PCP.

"This is one of those types of cases that the cold case unit was created to work," retired Officer John Skipper, who is a member of the RBPD's cold case unit, told the Easy Reader shortly after Rawls' arrest. "We got a great break that the DNA did come back, and we were already looking at the case and pretty familiar with it."

The trial will continue Tuesday.

• Full story: Woman Recalls Sexual Assault at Redondo Union High School [Daily Breeze]

Previously: