Sergeant Dan Scott of the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department thanked both the media and the community for helping to bring into custody a man suspected of sexually assaulting a mentally handicapped teenager on Metro bus in Culver City Wednesday evening.
Kerry Trotter, 20, was arrested early Friday morning after a member on the public identified him from a photo that was released through multiple news outlets.
Officers at the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station received a tip around 11:15 p.m. on Thursday evening, which led them to a residence on the 1400 block of W. 99 St. where Trotter was staying.
He was arrested on a charge of forcible rape, 261(a) (1) P.C., and his bail was initially set at $100,000. It has since been raised to $1,000,000.
The victim is an 18-year-old female, who according to the family has a mental capacity equivalent to a 10-year-old. She was riding the bus home from school when the assault took place.
Police said that the sexual assault went on for approximately 10 minutes, and was not reported by any of the other passengers on the bus.
Speaking at a press conference in Monterey Park on Friday afternoon, Sgt. Scott said it may not have been evident to the other riders that a sexual assault was taking place.
"This individual was blocking the view of the victim. Based on the detectives who have analyzed the video, there might have been suspicion, not enough [for a witness] to think there was a sexual assault," Sgt. Scott said. "People typically think of rape as somebody throwing-down, but that isn't always the case."
However, Sgt. Scott asked that anyone who was riding the bus at the time of the incident to come forward to provide more details.
According to Sgt. Scott, Trotter currently has parole-hold for an assault with a deadly weapon violation, and "has numerous other arrests, including a sex allegations against him."
Asked if, given his history, Trotter had targeted and tracked his victim, Sgt. Scott said officers did not believe that was the case.
"That's always a possibility, but based on an in-depth interview with the victim, we don't believe that's the case," he said. "This was a crime of opportunity."
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