Rapist Sentenced to 700 Years in Prison

A serial rapist, found guilty of kidnapping and attacking 15 Los Angeles women in 1994, was sentenced on Monday to more than 700 years in prison.

Sean Patrick Mitchell, 36, a former security guard, was convicted in January of 98 counts, including forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sodomy, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping for sexual purposes. Most of the attacks occurred outside trendy restaurants or homes in Hollywood, West Hollywood and the Wilshire district.

“This is not just a victory for our office,” said Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, who met with the victims following the sentencing. “It sends a message to the rapist and the potential rapist.”

Authorities say the sentence is among the longest ever handed down in Los Angeles County.

Prosecutors said Mitchell kidnapped his victims at gunpoint and took them to motels or their own apartments, where he raped and robbed them.

“This man is a sexual predator who is not fit to live in society,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry, who sentenced Mitchell. “The defendant would strike again if given the opportunity.”

After hearing the sentence, Mitchell shouted: “I didn’t rape or kidnap nobody. . . . You’re crazy.”

The defendant’s family insists there is no way Mitchell could have committed the crimes because he suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited illness that causes muscle deterioration.

“He’s uncoordinated,” said his mother, Consuela Mitchell, after the sentencing. “He can’t run. I don’t see any possible way he could have done this.”

Outside the courtroom, several victims who had testified during the monthlong trial praised the judge’s sentence.

“It’s obviously a relief,” said one 25-year-old woman who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He is going to die [in prison]. He is going to die miserable.”

Her father added, “I can’t begin to describe the closure. . . . I think this is something that should be known to our society, that crime is not tolerated.”

Another victim said, “For him to go to prison will be like going on a vacation compared to what he put us through.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Powers, who prosecuted the case, said that Mitchell generally approached his victims, who were either alone or in pairs, as they were getting into their cars. He would usually have his gun drawn and force the women into the car, telling them that he would kill them and their families if they looked at his face, Powers said.

When he abducted two women at a time, he would force one inside a closet or a shower stall, while he raped the other. Then he would make the two switch places. Powers said Mitchell even coerced some of his victims into writing notes to him with their names, addresses and a message such as “Call me,” in an effort to make his assaults seem consensual.

Mitchell was arrested early on June 8, 1994, at a Crenshaw district motel after the manager saw him with two young women, Powers said.

Two other women who were raped by Mitchell there three days earlier identified the location for police. The officers had asked the manager to call 911 if he saw anyone who matched Mitchell’s description with two women. Police found Mitchell in a room with the two young victims and arrested him without incident, Powers said.

Family and friends of Mitchell were stunned by the severity of the sentence, which, in addition to 700 years and four months, also included 11 consecutive life terms.

“He’s going to be dying in prison,” said Rick Barker, Mitchell’s brother-in-law. “I came today because it might be the last time I see him.”

Mitchell’s mother said the jurors had read newspaper articles about the rapes and that the court never allowed the jury to see her son try to walk. Consuela Mitchell says her son’s disease has left him severely crippled and that he was too physically disabled to commit the rapes and kidnappings.

The 25-year-old victim said that throughout the trial Mitchell would stare at her. “He gave me this really sick smile,” she said. “He even told some of the victims that they are lying. But there’s a lot of us and only one of him. He’s a sick individual who obviously can’t take the responsibility.”

She also had a message for other rape survivors: “You have to tell [authorities],” she said. “It’s not your fault. What they did to you, it’s not OK and they are going to pay.”