3 Job Seekers Report Attacks : Businessman Charged With Rape, Assault

A Fountain Valley businessman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women in his office who were applying for jobs and a third woman whom he flew in from Las Vegas for an interview, authorities said.

Thomas J. Panichas, 31, was arrested at his Costa Mesa townhouse on a warrant charging him with 14 counts of sexual assault, including forcible rape, oral copulation and false imprisonment of the three women in separate incidents dating back to last summer, police said.

He was being held Thursday night at Orange County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Panichas lured the women to his office with offers of employment as a secretary or marketing specialist, said Sgt. Larry Griswold, spokesman for the Fountain Valley Police Department.

He met the women--two 18-year-olds from Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills, and a 22-year-old married woman from Las Vegas--at nightclubs and restaurants, Griswold said.

The 18-year-old women allegedly were assaulted by Panichas in two separate incidents last June and November, Griswold said.

The assaults allegedly occurred at Western Communications Development Corp., Panichas’ firm in the 16500 block of Harbor Boulevard, Griswold said.

The attacks were reported at the time to Fountain Valley police, but the district attorney’s office declined to file charges against Panichas, Griswold said.

The third alleged sexual assault occurred Jan. 20 in an Irvine motel room. Panichas paid for the room for the 22-year-old Las Vegas woman after flying her to Orange County for a job interview, Griswold said.