LAGUNA NIGUEL : Rape Case Defendant’s Plea Delayed

The attorney for a convicted rapist charged with sexually assaulting a Mission Viejo woman at the Laguna Hills Mall said Wednesday that his client is innocent and anxious to clear his name.

Paul William Jensen, 48, of Laguna Niguel appeared in South Orange Municipal Court to answer charges of forcible rape, kidnaping, forced oral copulation, sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm.

He did not enter a plea during his arraignment, which was continued until next week. Defense attorney Allan Stokke indicated that his client, a registered sex offender, will plead not guilty.

There is “no real evidence in this case other than a photo identification” that ties Jensen to the March 5 rape, Stokke said. “He has every reason to remain here and fight this case.”

The 35-year-old victim has accused Jensen of sexually assaulting her at gunpoint in her van while it was parked in a remote lot of the Laguna Hills Mall, authorities said.

She identified the defendant through a “photo lineup” after investigators matched him to a composite drawing developed from the rape victim’s description, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson.

Jensen, who served 2 1/2 years in prison for a series of “date rapes” involving four Newport Beach women, recently completed three years of parole. Authorities said he was arrested Monday night as he walked off a plane from a business trip to Philadelphia.

He is being held without bail in Orange County Jail pending arraignment, Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lloyd said. If convicted, Jensen could be sentenced to 64 years in prison.

During Jensen’s brief appearance Wednesday, Stokke asked Municipal Court Judge Pamela L. Iles to release his client on bail while his case was being prepared. Iles refused, agreeing with prosecutors that Jensen, once a successful salesman for high-tech industries, posed a risk to his accuser.

According to court documents, the victim told detectives that the man who raped her threatened to kill her if she told anyone.