Man Pleads Not Guilty to Rape, Attempted Rape Charges

A Thousand Oaks man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he raped two women and attempted to rape a third during a string of burglaries earlier this year.

Jose Zavala, 21, entered his plea during a brief arraignment in Ventura County Municipal Court. A preliminary hearing is set for April 10 on the rape charges and a separate felony drug case.

The assaults in Thousand Oaks touched a raw nerve in the community, especially as word spread that Zavala was an illegal immigrant who had a lengthy criminal history and had twice been deported after serving time in jail.

Authorities arrested him Feb. 22 after Zavala allegedly broke into the home of a 44-year-old Thousand Oaks woman and attempted to rape her.

When the woman fought back and her cries alerted family members who came to the scene, the attacker fled by jumping though a glass window. Police followed a trail of blood and found Zavala hiding under a car, they said.

Authorities believe Zavala is the man who raped two Thousand Oaks women in their homes earlier this year. They suspect that he specifically sought out older women living alone near his Old Town neighborhood.

A 57-year-old woman was attacked in her condominium during a break-in Feb. 20. A 64-year-old woman was raped in her mobile home Jan. 25.

Outraged by the incidents, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) accused Immigration and Naturalization Service officials of not doing enough to ensure that illegal immigrants who commit crimes are permanently removed from the country.

For the first time since the arrest, immigration authorities this week provided a detailed account of Zavala’s time in INS custody.

Using the alias Joel Barnett, Zavala was formally deported in May 1994 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery and serving a 30-day jail sentence, authorities said. The formal deportation meant that he could be prosecuted for a felony if he returned to the United States.

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In December 1996, Zavala was again deported after being arrested for drug possession--a felony charge that is set to be heard by a judge during the preliminary hearing on the alleged sex crimes.

In that case, Zavala was arrested under his true name and was immediately turned over to the Border Patrol without a formal hearing of the charges, authorities said. He was offered voluntary departure, a form of deportation that carries no significant penalty.

Richard Rogers, director of the INS district that encompasses Ventura County, said had jail officials or Border Patrol agents been able to identify Zavala as Joel Barnett in December, he could have been charged with a felony and, if convicted, sent to federal prison.

“The individual claimed no history under the other name, so we removed him,” Rogers said. “It’s something that happens. Not frequently, but it does happen. But we’re hoping that it will decrease significantly with some of the new measures we have in place.”

Among those measures is a six-month pilot program launched late last year in which INS agents scour the County Jail, identifying illegal immigrants before they go to court and tagging them for deportation once they do their time in County Jail or state prison.

Gallegly, who helped launch the jail program, said the sexual attacks point up the greatest failing in the battle to send immigrant criminals back where they came from. Even after they are convicted, do their time and are removed from the country, he said, many return to commit more crimes.

Zavala had been in and out of jail several times, according to officials with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and court records.

Using an alias as Jose Alanis Perez, Zavala was arrested in Thousand Oaks for misdemeanor sexual battery in January 1994 and pleaded guilty, records show. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years probation.

In June 1995, using a different alias as Joel Barnett Alanis, Zavala pleaded guilty to sexual battery and indecent exposure in addition to probation violations for each crime, court records show.

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He was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to obtain psychiatric counseling. He was also told not to leave the county or change his Thousand Oaks residence.

Last July, Zavala was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, burglary, violating probation and brandishing a firearm, jail officials said.

He is now being held on $1-million bail.

Pointing to the success of the jail program, Gallegly said he plans to introduce legislation to extend the program past its scheduled termination date in April. Of the 486 inmates interviewed so far, 319 have been found to be eligible for deportation.

“With this program,” Gallegly said, “we are finally able to identify and deport criminals at the time they are arrested and before they are released into the community to prey on innocent victims and commit more violent crimes.”