BREAKING NEWS: Suspect arrested in 2003 sexual assault at RUHS

A Long Beach man was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a Redondo Union High School student in a girl's gym restroom in 2003, police said.

Sylvester Gene Rawls, 45, of Long Beach was tied to the crime with DNA evidence recovered from the restroom, Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.

At the time, police used a turkey baster to recover semen from the water in a toilet, officers said.

Detectives linked Rawls to the crime last week. Rawls had been required to supply his DNA during a previous conviction, police said.

The crime occurred Aug. 28, 2003, when the student went to use the restroom while participating with 30 other girls in a campus-sponsored after-school event.

The girl told police she believed the man was hiding in a stall adjacent to hers when she entered between 2:15 and 2:30 p.m.

Police worked for years to try to find the assailant, releasing a sketch to the public in the hope someone could identify him. Cold case detectives reviewed the original case and ultimately matched his DNA.

Rawls record includes a 1996 federal arrest and conviction for manufacturing PCP, Hoffman said.

He was released from prison in 2001 and placed on probation. When his probation sentence ended in May 2006, Rawls was required to submit a sample of his DNA.

The back log of specimens in a federal laboratory took several years to examine.
Once cold case detectives learned of the match, they worked to find Rawls. An arrest warrant was obtained early Monday. A team of detectives located Rawls in Long Beach.

Hoffman said detectives had never stopped trying to solve the crime.

"I'm just really happy we were able to make an arrest in this thing," Hoffman said. "When it happened, it was really shocking in this community."

Rawls was booked on suspicion of sexual assault at the Redondo Beach jail and is being held on $250,000 bail.

He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.