Man Convicted of Raping, Beating Retarded Woman
A man was convicted Monday of raping and beating a mentally retarded woman on a busy Santa Monica sidewalk last July in daylight.
Chester James Runions, 39, was found guilty of two counts of assault, one count of forcible oral copulation, one count of rape with a foreign object and one count of robbery.
Runions is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 24 in Santa Monica Superior Court. According to witnesses, Runions attacked the 48-year-old woman at Pico Boulevard and 20th Street on July 29. The woman, who has the mental capacity of a child, was walking to the store from her home.
Runions dragged her along the sidewalk and raped her outside a liquor store about 3:25 p.m., police said. The victim’s clothes were torn off and her facial bones were crushed in the beating. Passersby who tried to restrain the attacker later identified Runions.
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