Police Broaden Investigation of Rape Suspect

An Irvine man arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Oceanside girl he met over the Internet is under investigation for possibly assaulting other teenage victims, a police spokeswoman said Saturday.

Kevin Sewell, 28, was arrested at his apartment March 11 by Irvine police, said Laura Reinsimar, a spokeswoman for the Oceanside Police Department. He was taken to Oceanside, where police booked him on suspicion of sexual assault, she said.

Sewell allegedly boasted of other juvenile conquests to the Oceanside girl, so authorities said they are now trying to determine whether there were other victims.

Police were led to Sewell, whose online alias was “socalmal9,” after the teenager told her parents that she had been raped by the man.

Sewell had an ongoing relationship with the girl that dated back to January, when the two met in an Internet chat room, police said.

The pair met in person five times from January to March, including twice at a motel in Oceanside. The last encounter took place in Sewell’s Irvine apartment on March 8, Reinsimar said.

Sewell has admitted to meeting with the girl but denied forcibly raping her, police said. He also claimed he didn’t know the victim was a minor, Reinsimar said.

Police seized a digital camera and a personal computer, among other evidence, from Sewell’s home.

Investigators are looking to see whether Sewell might have downloaded pictures of the girl or other victims, Reinsimar said.

Sexual assaults that take place after Internet encounters are becoming more and more frequent, police said.

Oceanside police have handled three such crimes over the last year, Reinsimar said.

“More and more people are online now,” Reinsimar said. “And kids get online, and they’re curious and interested in having people pay attention to them.

“It’s fun to them, but it’s really dangerous,” she added.