A former Marine has been convicted of raping and attacking six young women in San Diego over a five-year period, including at least one instance where he attacked a stranger while dressed in military fatigues.
A San Diego County jury on Monday convicted former Camp Pendleton Marine Staff Sgt. Ted Amparan, 41, of multiple counts of forcible rape, rape by foreign object, assault and kidnapping. The charges relate to attacks that happened while he was an active duty Marine between 2007 and 2012.
Amparan faces 83 years to life in prison and will be sentenced July 7.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Amparan targeted prostitutes on El Cajon Boulevard, taking them to secluded areas of Camino Del Rio South to sexually assault them.
The women were between 16 and 23 years old and, though petite, fought back against Amparan, prosecutors said.
One of the women wasn’t a prostitute, but became lost while trying to find a friend on El Cajon Boulevard. Dressed in his military fatigues, Amparan stopped his car and offered her a ride, prosecutors said.
“When she realized that she was about to be raped and possibly killed, she fought back,” a San Diego County District Attorney’s Office news release said.
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The women went so far as to scale a 6-foot fence and cross two lanes of Interstate 8 to get away from Amparan, prosecutors said.
Some of the women testified at trial that Amparan had told them that nobody would believe them and their cases wouldn’t be investigated.
Attempts to reach Amparan's defense attorney on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
