OJAI VALLEY : Rape Suspect Fails His 2nd Blood Test

A second blood test failed on Tuesday to eliminate a 21-year-old Casitas Springs man as the suspect in a series of sexual assaults in the Ojai Valley, further strengthening the case against him, authorities said.

Jason Edward Hawthorne, who has been staunchly defended by family and friends, was arrested late Saturday on suspicion of the four attacks that occurred between March and September, 1994.

He is expected to be charged today with multiple counts of sexual assault and is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Municipal Court at 1:30 p.m., said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth.

Although the two genetics tests performed since Saturday cannot pinpoint the identity of the rapist, the results of the second test “significantly narrow” the odds that Hawthorne is not the suspect, Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Robertson said.

Sheriff’s officials refused to disclose the exact odds at the request of the district attorney’s office. The results of DNA tests, which are more precise, will be available in five weeks.

“We have very little doubt,” said Robertson, who supervises the sheriff’s major crimes unit. “We feel that if in fact he is the assailant, we will be able to conclusively confirm his identity with the DNA as well as other physical evidence that has been collected.”

Hawthorne was first targeted as a suspect because his Ventura County Jail booking photo from an unrelated misdemeanor arrest closely resembled witnesses’ descriptions of the rapist.

Hawthorne surrendered to authorities late Saturday after detectives executed two warrants naming him as the suspect. One allowed them to search the room he rents in a house on Nye Road the other required Hawthorne to take a blood test.

According to court records, Hawthorne has been arrested at least twice in recent years. On Dec. 25, 1993, he was jailed briefly on suspicion of being drunk in public, although no charges were filed.

And last December, he was arrested on suspicion of fighting in public. That case is under investigation, records show.