Dean Fioresi is a web producer for CBS Los Angeles. He covers breaking news throughout Southern California. When he's not writing about local events, he enjoys focusing on sports and entertainment.
A man who allegedly sexually assaulted half a dozen women in a six-hour time frame in the San Fernando Valley last week was charged on Friday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Damian Denzell Robinson Jr., 29, was charged with two felony counts of assault with the intent to commit a forcible sex crime, six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and one misdemeanor count each of engaging in lewd conduct and invasion of privacy by peeking at a minor, according to a news release from the DA's Office.
Robinson pleaded not guilty during his arraignment hearing on Friday and his preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 2. He was ordered to remain behind bars in lieu of $355,000, prosecutors said.
The series of assaults allegedly took place on Sunday, April 19, between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Prosecutors say that Robinson entered a store in Granada Hills, where he allegedly pulled down a 64-year-old woman's pants and groped her. An hour later, they say that he tried to sexually assault a 73-year-old woman who was walking down a street in the North Hills area. Several minutes later, prosecutors alleged that he sexually assaulted a 51-year-old woman on the street.
They further alleged that he approached four other women and inappropriately touched them over the next several hours, ending the spree of incidents at around 3:20 p.m. inside a retail store "by trying to surreptitiously record on his phone a 6-year-old girl who was in a store bathroom," prosecutors said.
Police said that they were able to identify Robinson as the alleged suspect through closed-circuit television.
Robinson turned himself in to the Lancaster Sheriff's Station on Wednesday night after police released his picture and a news release detailing the alleged events of the day.
If convicted as charged, prosecutors say that Robinson faces up to 16 years and six months in state prison. He was previously convicted for indecent exposure and lewd conduct, which required him to register as a sex offender, police said.
"In a single day, this defendant is accused of committing various sex-related crimes that terrorized seven women and a young girl," said a statement from LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. "This kind of behavior is calculated, warped and deeply disturbing. It is our job to hold this defendant accountable to ensure this doesn't happen again. We urge anyone else who believes they may have been a victim or a witness to call the Los Angeles Police Department."
Police asked anyone who may know more to contact Devonshire Area Sexual Assault Detective Danielle Tumbleson at 818-832-0609.