Crime & Safety

FV Border Patrol Agent Guilty in Multiple Rapes

Miguel Lerma Jr., of Fountain Valley, was sentenced to six years in jail for raping two women.

Just as his trial was set to begin, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer pleaded guilty today to raping two women, one in Long Beach and the other in Garden Grove, and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Miguel Lerma Jr., 33, of Fountain Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of forcible rape and one count of rape of an intoxicated person, both felonies, according to Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough said. Had Lerma gone to trial and been convicted on all counts, he could have served nearly 32 years in prison. However, the plea deal makes Lerma a two-striker and forces him to admit to his crimes and wave his right for an appeal while sparing his victims the ordeal of a trial.

“It spares them the trauma,” Scarbrough said.

Find out what's happening in Fountain Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The second victim ``was very fearful of the defendant,'' Scarbrough said.   

Lerma met the first victim, who was in her 20s, through a mutual friend at the V20 club in Long Beach on Sept. 10, 2009, Scarbrough said.

Find out what's happening in Fountain Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The woman had several drinks before she blacked out and later woke up in the bushes at a remote industrial area near Redondo Avenue and East Hill Street in Long Beach early Sept. 11, 2009, Scarbrough said.

“We did have a Good Samaritan in this case,” said Scarbrough.

The victim flagged down a truck driver, who lent her his phone to call a friend and stayed with her until help arrived, Scarbrough said.

“That is not something we see very often,” he added. “He really did go the extra mile to make sure she was safe.”

The prosecutor and defense attorney Rob Harley were working on pretrial motions, with plans to begin jury selection in the afternoon, when they negotiated the plea deal, Scarbrough said. Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley accepted the plea bargain and sentenced Lerma.

Harley did not immediately return a message for comment.

Lerma met the second victim, who was a 20-year-old prostitute, on Nov. 14, 2010, Scarbrough said. He met her at the California Girls Gentleman's Club in Santa Ana, where he agreed to pay her for a sex act, Scarbrough said.

Lerma told the woman he had to get cash from an ATM, so she got in his car and they drove to a remote area in Garden Grove in the 11800 block of Cardinal Circle, Scarbrough said. Lerma said he remembered he had some money in the trunk and got out of the car, the prosecutor said.

``She gets spooked and gets out of the car and that's when the rape begins,'' Scarbrough said.

Both victims approved the resolution of the case, Scarbrough said.

Investigators were able to link Lerma to the crime when the woman from the Long Beach case told them how she met her attacker, Scarbrough said. After investigators questioned the mutual friend they obtained a search warrant for Lerma's DNA, and that evidence linked him to both rapes, Scarbrough said. Lerma was arrested March 31, 2011, while he was on his way to work.

 - City News Service contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.