Man Confesses to Rape of Cal State Fullerton Student

A 33-year-old custodian confessed to the alleged rape of a Cal State Fullerton freshman after his brother-in-law led detectives to the man’s Anaheim home, university police said Monday.

The suspect, Kenneth Dean Ray, was being held in lieu of more than $54,000 bail at Orange County Jail. Ray was scheduled for arraignment today in North Orange County Municipal Court in Fullerton.

University police were led to Ray by his brother-in-law, Terry Lonnie Briggs.

Briggs, a 39-year-old laborer, was initially served with an arrest warrant Friday in connection with the alleged rape at the Fullerton campus on Jan. 31, Detective Tom Gehrls said.

Armed with a search warrant, campus police also inspected Briggs’ Fullerton apartment, which is just north of the university campus, and seized “some property that was involved in the crime,” Gehrls said. He declined to describe the evidence.

During questioning, however, Briggs denied any connection to the attack and claimed he was elsewhere at the time. “He had an alibi that made sense,” Gehrls said.

Briggs then provided police with the name of Ray, his wife’s brother, and went along with officers to Ray’s Anaheim home late Friday. Ray was subsequently questioned by police.

“During the interview at the (campus police) station, Ray confessed to the crime,” Gehrls said.

Police had obtained an arrest warrant for Briggs in part because the victim had positively identified a photograph of the Fullerton construction worker. Campus police had a photograph of Briggs because he was questioned last year for fraudulent use of a campus gasoline credit card, a misdemeanor that was never prosecuted, according to university Assistant Police Chief William D. Huffman.

Gehrls noted that Briggs and Ray are about the same height and weight, with hair similar in color and style.

Although he was released on the rape charge, Briggs was being held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana late Monday on $1,274 in unpaid traffic warrants for driving without a license, vehicle registration or insurance, and contempt of court.