An Anaheim has been charged with kidnapping four women, holding them at gunpoint and sexually assaulting three of them on separate occasions in Orange and Los Angeles counties, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Sione Vea, 46, has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen felony charges, including kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, sexual penetration by force and forcible oral copulation, court records show.
Prosecutors allege the sexual assaults began on Oct. 28, 2018, when they say Vea approached a woman in Compton seeking sex. After driving a short distance away, prosecutors allege, Vea pulled out a gun and sexually assaulted the woman. After then driving to Long Beach, prosecutors say, Vea allegedly pulled the woman out of his car and raped her.
Roughly three years later, on Aug. 18, 2021, prosecutors say, Vea persuaded a woman in Los Angeles to get into his car, at which point she noticed he had a gun. Prosecutors allege Vea choked the woman “with the intent to sexually assault her and rob her,” but she reportedly managed to break free and escape.
On Nov. 26, 2022, prosecutors allege, Vea pulled up to a woman in Stanton seeking sex and convinced her to get into his vehicle, before brandishing a gun, robbing her and sexually assaulting her.
On Nov. 26, 2023, prosecutors say, Vea drove up to another woman seeking sex in Stanton. Prosecutors say he pulled out a firearm after she got in the vehicle, robbed her and drove her to another location where he sexually assaulted her.
Vea was arrested on Jan. 9 by Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. If convicted of all the charges, Vea faces up to 272 years and eight months to life in prison, according to the DA’s office.
“Over and over again, women were targeted and attacked by this sexual predator who waited for an opportune time to assault them,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “Sexual violence of any kind will never be tolerated in Orange County, and predators who prey on unsuspecting women for their own sexual gratification will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Vea, or about other potential victims, to contact Orange County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Austin Jones at (714) 647-7106 or ajones@ocsheriff.gov.
Source: Orange County Register
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