Rape Suspect to Stand Trial in Torrance Attack, Robbery

A man suspected of being the Inland Empire’s “Red Dragon” rapist has been ordered to stand trial for a robbery and rape inside a Torrance office.

Johnny Duane Miles, 25, of Compton, faces charges of rape, rape with a foreign object, and two counts each of robbery, false imprisonment and forcible oral copulation in connection with a June 16 afternoon assault on a man and a woman in Torrance. Miles, who remains jailed in Los Angeles in lieu of $500,000 bail, faces as much as 50 years in state prison if convicted.

Miles also has been charged with murder and rape in San Bernardino County, where a 35-year-old rape counselor was raped, robbed and beaten to death Feb. 4. Prosecutors in that case may seek the death penalty. In addition, investigators believe Miles may also be responsible for a string of rapes in Riverside County.

Police nicknamed the suspect in the San Bernardino and Riverside rapes the “Red Dragon” rapist because the man habitually wore a baseball cap embroidered with the name of the Red Dragon karate studio in Ontario.

Prosecution of the cases in the other two counties will not begin until the Torrance case has concluded, officials said. Miles is scheduled to appear in Torrance Superior Court for arraignment on Aug. 19.