San Diego

A jury found a paroled rapist guilty Friday of new rape, burglary and robbery charges which may make him eligible for a life sentence as a habitual criminal offender.

Emmanuel Lucious, 30, who was convicted in 1982 in a high-profile case of sexually assaulting elementary school teachers in their classrooms in San Diego, will be sentenced March 27.

A San Diego Superior Court jury convicted Lucious of raping a 64-year-old woman on Aug. 23, 1989, six weeks after he was paroled from prison on his 14-year term in the schoolteachers’ case, which occurred in 1981.

The jury also found Lucious guilty of 11 other felony charges including an attempted sexual assault upon another elderly woman, robbery, false imprisonment, and burglaries committed on Aug. 26, 1989, mostly in the Oak Park area of San Diego.

His trial began Dec. 4, and the jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon.

Judge Laura Palmer Hammes made the finding after the verdicts were read that Lucious’ prior convictions were valid and could result in a longer sentence.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Josephine Kiernan said Lucious could receive 20 years to life on the habitual offender count alone.

Kiernan said Lucious’s first conviction occurred when he was 17, but he was tried as an adult. He was found guilty of rape and robbery in 1978.

The 1981 incidents occurred at Valencia and Kennedy elementary schools. Lucious originally was sentenced to 20 years by Judge David Gill, but an appeals court later ordered the sentence reduced to 14 years.