Alleged Serial Rapist Faces More Charges in Attacks

A prosecutor on Friday filed new charges, involving an additional five alleged victims, against a Temecula pool hall owner accused of committing a string of burglaries and rapes over an eight-year period.

Kenneth George Wade, a 45-year-old ex-convict, allegedly broke into homes in various Orange County cities and sometimes returned at a later date to rape his victims, officials said.

He was charged with attacks on three women after his July 25 arrest in Anaheim, including one rape and attempted rapes against two others, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan McNerney said.

“We filed charges involving five new victims, [and] when I say five, it’s victims not identified in the initial complaint,” McNerney said.

The charges now include nine counts of burglary, rape, penetration with a foreign object, vehicle theft and felony evasion of police. Police originally linked Wade to 86 crimes. McNerney said it is not likely that Wade will be prosecuted on all 86 counts.

Wade, who is being held without bail, was in a Santa Ana courtroom for arraignment Friday morning, but Deputy Public Defender Donald T. Barkemeyer asked that the proceeding be delayed two weeks.

Orange County Municipal Court Judge Marjorie Laird Carter reset arraignment for Aug. 25.

The prosecutor said he is uncertain if more charges will be filed.

“I don’t know if there are going to be any more or not,” McNerney said.

If convicted, Wade would face up to 300 years to life in prison under the “three strikes” law because of 1990 felony convictions for an Anaheim burglary and a robbery in Los Angeles County, McNerney said.