Lottery Winner to Pay Woman He Sexually Attacked

A California lottery winner who was convicted of sexually attacking a Ventura homemaker has agreed to pay the woman and her husband nearly $1 million--about a sixth of his jackpot--in an out-of-court settlement, attorneys said Tuesday.

The case had pitted Raymond Wilson, a 20-year-old fast-food worker, against Ben and Becky Rasnick.

The Rasnicks filed the civil suit last August after Wilson was convicted of attempted rape and sentenced to a year in the Ventura County Jail, a penalty they contended was too lenient.

Wilson was living in Santa Monica when he won a $5.86-million Lotto jackpot on Oct. 12, 1988. He has since bought a house in Tarzana.

The settlement agreement entitles the Rasnicks to $150,000 this year, and $140,000 annually for the next six years, according to attorneys in the case.

The Rasnicks and their attorney, William Rehwald of Woodland Hills, declined to comment Tuesday. But in the past the couple said they would use the money to fight what they consider moral ills, such as abortion and pornography.

Wilson and his mother--who bought the ticket but gave it to her son--will be left with about $3.7 million of their winnings after taxes, collectible over 20 years, according to Wilson’s attorney, James M. Farley of Ventura. He criticized the Rasnicks’ suit as motivated by greed rather than a desire for justice.

“I think it stinks because I don’t believe the woman was injured in that amount,” said Farley, who has argued that Wilson’s winnings could pay for the expensive psychiatric treatment he needed, but was unable to previously afford.

Farley said he was “extremely upset” about the settlement but agreed to it rather than go through with a trial and risk an even higher award by a jury. Wilson is scheduled for release from jail in April.

Becky Rasnick, 28, a church youth counselor and the mother of two, was jogging near her home when she encountered Wilson on Jan. 21, 1989. Although he pleaded guilty to attempted rape, Wilson has maintained that he never meant to rape or otherwise hurt her. He intended to masturbate over her, but panicked when she began screaming, he said.

But Rasnick said Wilson left his truck and chased her, dragged her into a ditch, and tried to remove her clothes. He also tried to choke her, she said, adding that she began to black out and believed she was dying.

When a passing vehicle distracted Wilson, she escaped and was driven home by two women.

According to court records, Wilson has been a chronic voyeur since he was sexually abused by a male baby-sitter at the age of 4 or 5.