Charles Edward Gaines III convicted Friday of the sexual assault of three woman and attempted assault of another woman

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Friday that Charles Edward Gaines III was convicted of forcible sex crimes against three women and the attempted rape of another.

On Feb. 25, 2025, a Ventura County jury convicted Gaines of forcible sodomy and the attempted rape of two women, but deadlocked on other charges stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Gaines pled guilty Friday to forcibly raping the two additional women and admitted the one of the survivors was a minor at the time of his attack.

Gaines attacked all of the survivors between February 2019 and May 2020 in Los Angeles and Ventura counties shared the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

On Feb. 27, 2019, Gaines -while using a fake name on a dating app- picked up a woman to go to the movies detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Instead of going to the theater, Gaines demanded sexual acts and took away the woman's phone explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, after the woman refused, Gaines forced her to orally copulate him and then forced her into the vehicle's backseat where he sodomized her.

When he was done, Gaines drove to a fast-food restaurant, returned her phone, and dropped her off detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The woman called 911 and was taken for a sexual assault examination where DNA was collected noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Weeks after the attack, Gaines contacted the woman and sent messages blaming her for the incident and expressing an interest in engaging in sex acts, but when she declined he sent threatening messages detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On Dec. 10, 2019, Gaines offered to let a homeless woman in Encino warm up in his car and she entered the backseat of the car to get out of the cold weather explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Gaines then got into the backseat and grabbed the woman and when she struggled to free herself, he threatened her and then began to rape her.

The woman was able to escape and grabbed Gaines' phone before fleeing to a closed grocery store where an employee let her inside shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Gaines followed the woman into the store, wrestled his phone from her hand, and fled the scene explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Later the same day, the woman submitted to a sexual assault examination and DNA from the attack was collected noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Gaines attacked a third survivor on March 27, 2020, in Simi Valley after the 16-year-old girl met him through a dating app where he was using a fake name stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Gaines picked the teen up at her home in a vehicle, drove a short distance away, and both of them entered the backseat of the vehicle.

What started as a consensual interaction turned into Gaines forcibly raping the girl even after she yelled for him to stop and struggled detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The Ventura County District Attorney's Office relayed that the teen was eventually able to grab the vehicle's door handle and jump out of the vehicle and Gaines jumped into the driver's seat and drove away.

Shortly after the assault, Gaines texted the teen and threatened to kill her stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The teen contacted law enforcement and a sexual assault examination was conducted and DNA from the attack was collected noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On May 23, 2020, Gaines attempted to force a woman in Canoga Park who he had had a previous consensual sexual relationship with to engage in sex acts and when she refused, she began to receive text messages from Gaines explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

In the messages, Gaines threatened to post printed sexual pictures of the woman for her family and neighbors to see unless she agreed to have sex with him and that he was waiting outside of her home shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

In May 2020 and February 2021, the Combined DNA Index System confirmed that DNA from all three sexual assaults matched one suspect shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Gaines was arrested on an unrelated matter in August of 2022, in Aurora, Colorado where his DNA was collected and uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System.

Gaines' DNA collected during his arrest matched that of all three attacks stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

In October 2022, detectives with the Simi Valley Police Department arranged to have Gaines arrested in Aurora pursuant to a Ventura County arrest warrant and Gaines was extradited to Ventura County where he has remained in custody since his arrival explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Gaines is currently scheduled to be sentenced on May 6, 2025, in courtroom 46 of the Ventura County Superior Court where he will be sentenced to 19 years in prison shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

He remains in custody without bail added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

"Gaines targeted women who were vulnerable," said Senior Deputy District Attorney Brent Nibecker who prosecuted the case. "But what he didn’t count on was their bravery. The courage these women showed by assisting in this investigation and then coming to court and sharing what he did to them was exceptional. Their actions served to protect others from being victimized by Gaines."

The Ventura County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (VCSAKI) is a multi-agency countywide program to test every sexual assault kit for the presence of DNA and investigate unsolved sexual assault cases explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Survivors of past sexual assaults can visit the VSAKI website for information on support services including free counseling and, in some cases, determine the status of their sexual assault kit noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.