Advertisement

The man suspected of being the Belmont...

Share
From a Times Staff Writer

The man suspected of being the Belmont Shore rapist, Mark Wayne Rathbun, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 64 criminal charges stemming from attacks on 14 women.

The attacks, occurring between April 2000 and last month, include the rapes of nine women and assaults on five others. Several of the victims are elderly.

Rathbun, 32, was picked up by police on Nov. 8, when a perimeter was set up around a neighborhood in Long Beach after an attempted sexual assault. He was booked on an unrelated drug count, and police took a sample of his DNA.

Advertisement

Rathbun was released, but officers kept him under surveillance.

Two days later, after tests matched his DNA with evidence from a dozen of the attacks, he was arrested. Bail is set at $11 million.

Advertisement