Oxnard man pleads not guilty to sex crimes from 2003 and 2020
OXNARD, Calif. - Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Monday that Oxnard resident Rodolfo Fernandez Franco pled not guilty to charges for multiple sex crimes, including rape, from 2003 and 2020.
40-year-old Franco was arrested in the area of West 7th Street and Hobson Way in Oxnard on Saturday.
He is being charged with one count of forcible rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count of assault with the intent to commit rape.
These charges are the result of three separate incidents involving three separate women.
Two of the incident occurred within days of each other in February 2003. During both scenarios, the women were reportedly driving Franco to a destination when he threatened to harm them and forced the women to commit sexual acts.
The third incident happened in December 2020. A woman told police she had been sleeping on the street when Franco laid down next to her and began to assault and strangle her. She said she believed she was going to be raped that night.
Franco appeared in court on Monday, May 24, and pled not guilty to the charges.
The case was continued to June 22, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. in courtroom 12 of the Ventura County Superior Court for an early disposition conference.
France was ordered to be held in custody without bail.
The Oxnard Police Department is conducting an ongoing investigation and believes there could be other victims that have not yet come forward. Anyone with information regarding the above crimes or similar incidents involving Franco is urged to contact Detective Michael McManama at 805-385-7662
