Suspect In Rape Of Girl Nabbed In Hemet
HEMET (CBS) — A man suspected of raping a girl in Hemet almost a year ago was arrested Monday.
Juan Anthony Vargas, 20, was taken into custody without incident at a residence in the 40800 block of Stetson Avenue, where Riverside County sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant this morning, according to Sgt. Stephen Mike.
Vargas was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of burglary, rape of a child under 14 years old and sodomy of a child under 14. He is being held without bail.
Vargas allegedly lured the girl into a vacant lot in the 26800 block of Yale Street on the night of March 3 and assaulted her at knifepoint.
The victim provided sheriff's investigators with a description of her assailant, and Vargas was soon identified as a person of interest, Mike said.
"The subject fled the area, and investigators were unable to interview him," Mike said. "Biological evidence was recovered during the initial investigation and submitted to the California Department of Justice for comparison."
Vargas came back as a match, Mike said.
The sargeant did not reveal how investigators knew where to find Vargas.
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