Man Is Charged in String of Rapes and Kidnappings Across the Valley

An 18-year-old North Hollywood man was charged Friday with 17 felony counts stemming from a series of abductions, rapes and other crimes against women and girls across the San Fernando Valley.

Andrew Saethong, who is being held at the Twin Towers jail in lieu of $15.1-million bail, will be arraigned Nov. 13 in Van Nuys Superior Court, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Saethong faces multiple life terms in prison if convicted on all counts, which include kidnapping to commit rape, assault with intent to commit rape, commission of a lewd act on a child, assault with forcible rape, sodomy and oral copulation, prosecutors said.

The charges stem from nine attacks between last Dec. 12 and Oct. 18 in areas covered by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire, Foothill and Van Nuys divisions.

Saethong’s victims ranged in age from 14 to 26, detectives said. Five of the alleged victims were under 18.

The most recent incident was reported Oct. 18, when a man in a white Honda Accord approached a 14-year-old Monroe High student walking to school in the 9000 block of Willis Avenue in North Hills. She was allegedly offered a ride by a man identified by the victim as Saethong, authorities said.

The girl refused, prompting her assailant to drive farther up the block. He parked his car and again approached the girl and then used a knife or simulated a gun to force her into the car.

The assault occurred in an alley about two blocks away, police said.

Detectives with the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division have interviewed other possible victims and said additional charges could be brought against Saethong.

The attacks typically took place in the morning and early afternoon, according to police. Police said the attacks showed a pattern of escalating violence that began with kidnappings and later included rapes.

Police earlier this week released a composite sketch of the assailant, described as an Asian man in his early 20s, 5 feet 3, 120 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and pockmarked skin.

Saethong, who is 5 feet 5, 120 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, was arrested Wednesday morning.

Detectives said the break in the case came after the police department released the sketch and received tips from at least two dozen people from Whittier to Santa Clarita.