BELL CANYON : Rapist, 69, Begins 3-Year Prison Term

Almost two years after he was convicted of raping a cleaning woman, a 69-year-old Bell Canyon man began serving a three-year prison sentence Tuesday.

Thomas Savas was taken into custody after Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath denied a request that Savas be permitted to remain free on bail pending appeals.

McGrath convicted Savas of rape and sexual battery after a non-jury trial in August, 1990. Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary C. Peace said Savas was the oldest suspect she had prosecuted for rape.

According to court documents, he hired the 30-year-old victim to clean his five-bedroom, five-bathroom house while his wife and two daughters were away. Savas was jailed for 10 days after his sentencing in February, 1991. Then McGrath allowed him to be freed on $250,000 bail while he appealed on the grounds that his attorney was incompetent. Another attorney took the case to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction. The California Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

On Tuesday, Savas was back with a third attorney, Donald B. Marx of Beverly Hills. Marx asked McGrath to let his client remain free until he could ask a federal court to look into the case.

McGrath sided with Peace, who argued in court papers that the judge had no right to grant such a request.