Man Charged with Westside Rapes Pleads Not Guilty

By Anne La Jeunesse

Thursday, April 15 -- A Los Angeles man believed to be the "Westside Rapist" who terrorized the area for nearly seven months pleaded not guilty Wednesday to nine felony charges, including three counts of forcible rape during his arraignment in Santa Monica Municipal Court.

Jelani Efron King, 20, -- who was arrested Monday night -- is also charged with one count each of attempted rape and sexual battery by restraint, two counts of residential burglary and one count each of assault likely to produce great bodily harm and unlawful taking of a vehicle.

"Our investigation is ongoing, and we expect to amend the felony complaint with additional charges at a later date," said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Michael Latin, echoing a statement by Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jason Lee, who said after King's arrest that the suspected rapist will likely be charged with numerous other criminal counts.

King could receive "85 or more years to life in prison" if convicted of the charges levied against him on Wednesday, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office.

King, who was arrested Monday evening in the jurisdiction of Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division, is suspected of having committed a rash of violent sexual assaults that began in October in the Westwood area and then escalated in December with the rape of a woman in Santa Monica. It is believed he crept into his victims' homes through unlocked doors or windows, according to police.

King has so far been connected by DNA and other evidence to six of the seven rapes he is believed to have committed, Lee said.

Police say that King committed rapes in Santa Monica on Dec. 21 and March 18, in Venice on Feb. 11 and 23 and in Palms on Feb. 19, March 26 and April 5.

Details of the location of King's arrest and clues that led to his capture are not being released because the case is still under investigation by a task force that includes investigators from the state Department of Justice, the Santa Monica and Los Angeles Police Departments and University of California - Los Angeles campus police.