Suspect Held in Sexual Attacks

Authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of a suspected serial rapist who may have been active in Los Angeles and Orange counties for nearly 10 years.

Robert Charles Lee, 34, of Fullerton was arrested Monday and charged with five felony sexual assault charges involving the alleged rapes of two women in Gardena in 2001.

He is being held on $3-million bail as authorities in both counties investigate possible links between Lee and other rapes.

Most of the victims in the rapes were between 55 and 79 years old; one was 18, said Gardena police Lt. Chuck Balo.

The crimes occurred in the early morning hours after the assailant broke into the victims’ residences, Balo said.

After collecting DNA samples in the assaults, investigators were able to link several of them to one person through a DNA database, Balo said.

In late 2005, investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in Carson began looking into two rapes that fit the pattern of sexual assaults later connected to Lee, Balo said.

A multi-agency investigative network was formed earlier this month, Balo said, including detectives from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the LAPD and the Gardena, Fullerton, Brea and West Covina police departments.

Investigators then linked Lee, who had been convicted of a burglary in Carson, to the sexual attacks through a DNA sample, Balo said.

Lee was arrested shortly afterward as he left his home in the 2100 block of Associated Avenue in Fullerton. He was booked at the Gardena Police Department.

Authorities in Orange and L.A. counties “are working together and will review all relevant cases, historical and recent, to decide what additional charges will be filed and in which county,” Balo said.