Man accused of raping 12-year-old in Claremont

A man was charged Tuesday with breaking into a Claremont home and raping a 12-year-old girl.

Joseph Davall, 33, of Yucca Valley, allegedly entered the home in Claremont on March 21, came upon a young girl alone in her bed and sexually assaulted her.

“He was a stranger. She doesn’t know the man,” said Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman with the L.A. County district attorney’s office.

Throughout the attack the young girl fought the suspect, prosecutors said.

Davall allegedly entered the home sometime after 10:30 p.m. The girl awoke after hearing a strange noise and then was confronted by the assailant. It’s unclear why the girl was alone or how the man gained entry.

Claremont police, with the assistance of forensic experts, were able to obtain the attacker’s DNA from the crime scene and run it through the state Combined DNA index system. The suspect was in the system because of prior convictions.

Davall has previously been convicted of making criminal threats in 1999 and 2001 along with grand theft in 2000. Arrests records show Davall was arrested in October 2012 on suspicion of rape and forced imprisonment in Desert Hot Springs.

Davall was taken into custody April 19 by Claremont police with assistance from San Bernardino County deputies after a short pursuit near his home in Yucca Valley.

He is charged with seven felonies, including two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count each of forcible rape; sexual penetration by foreign object; assault to commit a felony during the commission of a first-degree burglary; first-degree burglary, person present; and making criminal threats.

The investigation into Davall is ongoing, and authorities say they are examining similar unsolved crimes across the region.

If convicted, Duvall faces a potential sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. He is being held in L.A. County Jail in lieu of $5-million bail

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richard.winton@latimes.com