OXNARD : Jury Convicts Man in Rape of Date
After five days of deliberation, a Ventura County jury Friday convicted a Los Angeles man of raping an Oxnard woman after a date last September.
Wendell E. O’Neal, 34, was found guilty of three counts of rape, one count of oral copulation, one count of false imprisonment and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In addition, O’Neal was convicted of special allegations that he was armed during the crimes and that he used a firearm during their commission.
Both sides agreed that the woman agreed to accompany O’Neal to a party in Santa Barbara last Sept. 29. On the way back to Oxnard, O’Neal became angry because the woman would not spend the night with him, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary K. Barrett said.
O’Neal then parked in a secluded spot in Oxnard, produced a gun and raped the woman several times before taking her home, Barrett said.
O’Neal’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson, acknowledged that the two had sex but said the woman consented.
O’Neal faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and could be sentenced to as much as 50 years, Barrett said.
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