Man Held For Trial in Walnut Creek Rapes

Bay City News Service

A judge in Martinez Wednesday ordered Berkeley resident to stand trial on charges that he raped one woman and tried to sexually assault two others at a Walnut Creek apartment complex in the summer of 2010.

Mouton, 23, will stand trial on one count of rape, two counts of
attempted rape, three counts of residential burglary and two counts of
assault with intent to commit a felony, Judge Claire Maier ruled.

The decision came at the conclusion of a lengthy preliminary
hearing in which the judge heard experts testify about DNA evidence linking
the defendant to the three victims in the attacks inside the gated Park
Regency Apartments in unincorporated Walnut Creek in June, July and August
2010.

Mouton's family members have said that his mother lives near the
apartment complex in the 3100 block of Oak Road where the attacks occurred.

In two of the cases, the women were able to break free, but on
July 6, 2010, the attacker raped a woman after entering her unlocked
apartment, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
         
Mouton turned himself in that August and pleaded not guilty to the
charges against him. If convicted, he could face 25 years to life in prison, attorneys
said.

On Wednesday, the defense said cellphone records show Mouton was
likely elsewhere during the attacks.

But Maier disagreed, and said she believed the phone records
provided "damning" evidence against the defendant, in addition to sketches of
him drawn based on suspect descriptions given by the three victims.

"All of them quite well match Mr. Mouton," the judge said.

Mouton is set to return to Contra Costa County Superior Court for
arraignment on Jan. 23.