Man Sought After Rape Inside Church

Sheriff’s deputies are continuing their search for a man who, posing as a prospective church member, beat and raped a parishioner inside a Lomita church.

The attack took place Thursday afternoon when a man entered St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 24027 Pennsylvania Ave. in Lomita, and asked a woman there for a tour, according to Lomita sheriff’s detectives.

The 59-year-old woman escorted the man to the church choir loft, officials said, where she was knocked to the ground and raped. The attacker then choked the woman until she blacked out.

After she came to, the woman fled to the church basement and called authorities. When they arrived, sheriff’s deputies said they found her crying and leaning against a wall outside the church.

The suspect was described as 35 to 40 years old, 5 foot, 9 inches tall and weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He had a beard and was wearing a dark baseball cap at the time of the attack, deputies said.