Crime & Safety
Sonoma Man Charged In Kidnapping, Rape Of Middle-School Student
Jesse Granado-Lopez, 49, was arraigned Thursday. He is accused of abducting a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint as she walked to school.
SONOMA VALLEY, CA — A man was arraigned in Sonoma County Superior Court Thursday afternoon on five felony charges alleging that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in his car near a Sonoma-area middle school during a kidnapping and tried to abduct another girl in the same area.
Jesse Leon Granado-Lopez, 49, of Sonoma, delayed entering a plea to the charges until Jan. 23. He faces life in prison without parole if he is convicted of the charges and enhancements, Deputy District Attorney Laura Passaglia said.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said Granado-Lopez kidnapped the 14-year-old girl as she walked to Altimira Middle School in Boyes Hot Springs on Tuesday. He allegedly grabbed the girl at knifepoint as she was walking to school.
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The girl fought back but Granado-Lopez allegedly forced her into his car and drove to another location where he sexually assaulted her.
Granado-Lopez then drove the girl to another location and let her go, according to the sheriff's office.
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The second girl also was walking to the school when Granado-Lopez allegedly tried to grab her at the same intersection and take her to his car.
The girl fought back, escaped and called 911, sheriff's officials said.
Both girls are students of Altimira Middle School located at 17805 Arnold Drive northwest of the city of Sonoma.
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School staff called the sheriff's office at 7:56 a.m. to report a student was kidnapped and assaulted. While deputies and detectives were investigating the call, the sheriff's dispatch center received a call from the second girl around 8:30 a.m. to report a man just tried to kidnap her, according to the sheriff's office.
Both girls gave similar descriptions of the suspect's light brown passenger car. All available deputies in the area and the entire sheriff's office's domestic violence and sexual assault unit responded to search for and review surveillance video of the car. Granado-Lopez was found around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, sheriff's officials said.
Granado-Lopez was arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail under no bail. Judge Dana Simonds continued his no bail status Thursday afternoon.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office charged Granado-Lopez Thursday with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and forcible penetration with a foreign object. The three charges allege Granado-Lopez used a knife and the sexual assault occurred during a kidnapping, Passaglia said.
Granado-Lopez also was charged with committing a lewd and lascivious act with the 14-year-old girl, and attempting to kidnap the other girl with the intent to commit rape.
A group of people at the arraignment in support of Granado-Lopez declined to comment on the allegations.
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