Man With Severed Tongue to Stand Trial in 4 Rapes
Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009 | Updated 2:26 PM PDT
Officers say 32-year-old Ronald McGowan is a registered sex offender.
A Southern California man will stand trial in the rapes of four women, including one alleged victim who authorities say bit off the tongue of her attacker.
The Riverside County district attorney's office said Monday that a judge in Murrieta ordered 32-year-old Ronald Douglas McGowan to trial after a preliminary hearing on 12 felony counts, including rape, forcible rape, assault with a deadly weapon and assault causing serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors say one of the victims bit off part of McGowan's tongue in self-defense during a June 5 rape at her apartment. McGowan, of West Covina, was arrested at an emergency room where he went for treatment.
Prosecutors say investigators subsequently linked McGowan to three other rapes between 2007 and 2009.
His tongue could not be reattached.
