Monrovia Man Arrested in Rapes of Elderly Women

A 20-year-old Monrovia man suspected of preying on senile or mentally impaired women ranging up to 91 years old has been arrested on charges of committing at least six rapes at San Gabriel Valley convalescent homes, authorities said Friday.

Steven R. Rogers was arrested Thursday afternoon in Monrovia and held on $250,000 bail. His arrest capped a lengthy investigation by Temple City Sheriff’s detectives, Deputy Detta Roberts said.

Rogers came under suspicion about six months ago when a man entered a convalescent home in the East San Gabriel Valley shortly after midnight and raped an elderly resident. Detectives were subsequently tipped in an anonymous letter that Rogers might have been involved in the rapes.

Detectives have linked Rogers to half a dozen sexual assaults in Duarte, Monrovia, Covina and West Covina, and they believe that he may have committed others at convalescent homes in the same area, Roberts said.

Most of the victims, ranging from 60 to 91 years, were raped by an attacker who entered their rooms in the early morning hours. But the most recent assault was in the afternoon.

According to detectives, Rogers left work at a Pomona air conditioning firm Monday afternoon and tried to rape a convalescent home resident in San Dimas, but he was chased away. Rogers returned to the same home the next afternoon and raped a 60-year-old mentally impaired patient, they said.

The victim’s screams alerted the home’s director and Rogers fled, investigators said. But this time, they said, undisclosed evidence left behind linked the Monrovia man with the attack.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Spencer declined to release the names of the convalescent homes where the attacks occurred. Rogers, who deputies said has a police record as a juvenile but not as an adult, is scheduled to be arraigned next week.