IRVINE : Past Attack Weighed in Sentencing Rapist

A judge said Thursday that he believes that Steven McCoy is “a pedophile, pure and simple” and will be influenced by a past incident when sentencing him today for the rape of an 11-year-old Irvine girl.

Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey listened Wednesday to testimony from an 18-year-old Colton woman who said that 10 years ago McCoy sexually molested her and another girl the same age after coaxing them away from a school playground by offering them money.

McCoy, 37, a former Beverly Hills police officer, also testified, claiming that he was innocent of the 10-year-old incident. But Dickey said afterward that he believes that the defendant was responsible.

Dickey was ready to sentence McCoy last week for the March 26, 1990, rape in which he threatened the Irvine girl with a knife and forced her to perform repeated sexual acts. But prosecutors raised the issue of the 10-year-old incident found in a Colton police report, and the judge said he wanted to hear testimony from at least one of those victims before deciding whether to consider it in sentencing.

McCoy’s attorney, Jan Heger, argued that there was insufficient evidence to show that McCoy was responsible for the 1981 incident.