Torrance
A former Riverside County sheriff’s deputy convicted two years ago of sexually assaulting a teen-age girl has pleaded innocent to charges he raped and robbed and elderly widow last month while the conviction was on appeal.
Rick Alan Gonzales, 31, entered the plea during arraignment proceedings Monday before South Bay Municipal Court Judge Gaye Herrington. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 14.
Prosecutors allege that Gonzales, who is being held without bail at Los Angeles County Jail, raped a 65-year-old Torrance woman last month after breaking into her home and wresting a handgun from her. Gonzales was arrested after the woman told police she recognized him as a former neighbor.
The arrest was made less than three weeks before Gonzales was scheduled to begin a 10-year prison term for raping and kidnapping a 13-year-old runaway girl while on duty. Convicted in 1983, Gonzales had been free on bail pending appeal. The appeal was denied in March.
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