Man Found Guilty Of Kidnapping, Sexually Assaulting 2 Lancaster Teens
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Jurors Friday found a 42-year-old man guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Lancaster.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Joseph Kenneth Cornett has been charged with a total of 15 felony counts -- two counts each of kidnapping to commit rape, lewd act upon a child and forcible rape of child victim over 14; one count each of assault with intent to commit rape of a victim under 18, assault with intent to commit sodomy by use of force of a victim under 18, sexual penetration by foreign object of minor 14 or older by means of violence, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and furnishing marijuana to minor over 14; and four counts of threatening force or violence against an executive officer.
Cornett was also charged with three misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and one misdemeanor count of possession of PCP.
Jurors found allegations that the crimes were committed against multiple victims and that the victims were children 14 or older to be true, the district attorney's office said.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Cornett is accused of sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls within weeks of each other in 2015.
The first assault occurred on April 13, in a deserted area located east of Lancaster. Cornett allegedly prevented the victim from leaving his vehicle before raping her twice.
In May, he posed as a police officer and sexually assaulted a second victim in an abandoned mobile classroom, according to prosecutors.
Deputies said he was arrested following the second assault.
Cornett faces more than 80 years to life in state prison.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 28 in the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
