A serial rapist has victimized more than 30 women as they worked as massage therapists in a three-county area, according to Riverside police now seeking the public's help in identifying him.
The assaults date back to 2009. But only recently have DNA matches enabled police to link individual cases to the same perpetrator, said Riverside Police Officer Javier Cabrera. The perpetrator has displayed a handgun.
"He gains access to the business, and once inside the business, that's where the sexual assaults occur, " Cabrera said.
Besides Riverside, attacks have also occurred in San Bernardino County and in Los Angeles County in the east end of the San Gabriel Valley, according to Cabrera. Investigators have been able to collect still and video images of the perpetrator from security camera systems in several of the massage businesses, and intend to release them during a briefing at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
One masseuse who operates her own business in Riverside on Hole Avenue has twice been victimized by an intruder, said property owner Darrell Clardy. The woman was bound and placed in a room, but was able to escape.
"We don't know what he had in mind," Clardy said.
Security video was provided to police investigators, but police have not revealed if the perpetrator in that case is the serial rapist linked to the string of attacks.
More Southern California Stories: