Violent San Francisco Sexual Assault Suspect Faces Life Sentence
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A 36-year-old convicted of "one of the most grotesque and violent sexual assaults to occur in San Francisco in a long time" faces a sentence of life in prison without parole, prosecutors said Monday.
District Attorney George Gascón said a jury has found Lamar S. Paschall guilty of 8 felonies including forcible rape, sodomy, forcible oral copulation, assault with intent to commit rape, and kidnapping to commit robbery.
Gascón called it one of the most heinous crimes he has prosecuted.
"This was one of the most grotesque and violent sexual assaults to occur in San Francisco in a long time," he said in a news release. "It took years to bring this man to justice, but I commend the police and the victim for their vigilance."
According to court records, a 20 year-old woman was walking home after work on January 6, 2002 when she was approached by Paschall and another man, Kenneth Babers, near Golden Gate Avenue and Elm Alley.
The two men engaged her in conversation and walked with her towards a darker part of the street.
During the conversation, Paschall approached the young woman from behind and gripped his hand around her face and instructed her to pull her pants down. Both Babes and Paschall sexually assaulted the woman.
After the assault, Paschall and Babers forced her to walk to several ATM machines to withdraw money from her accounts. They made two transactions before walking to a doughnut shop where Paschall waited outside as the young woman and Babers entered the store.
On their way out, the young woman came up with an excuse to go back inside. There she told the cashier that she had been raped. The cashier shut and locked the door and called the police.
Nearly four years passed before the California Department of Justice notified the San Francisco Police Department that Paschall had come up as a DNA match.
However, when officers attempted to locate the young woman to pursue charges against Paschall, they could not find her. She was finally located in 2011.
Paschall was eventually located and arrested on January 4, 2012.
Meanwhile, Babers was sentenced to 26 years in state prison on January 8.
"All I did was ask a courageous and inspiring woman to come to court and speak her truth," said Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai. "She deserves all the credit."