UPDATE: Jury Finds Serial Rapist Guilty

UPDATE 5:20 p.m. Aug. 2:

A Riverside County jury today convicted a West Covina man in a series of brutal rapes including a 2009 attack in Murrieta during which the victim bit off a piece of the rapist’s tongue.

Ronald Douglas McGowan Jr, 34, was found guilty of three counts of rape, four counts of rape of a spouse, two counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, and one count each of robbery, sodomy by force or fear, and use of force causing serious bodily injury, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's office.

Jurors also found true numerous enhancements including multiple victims and tying or binding a victim, said John Hall, spokesperson for the DA's office, in a news release.

McGowan faces multiple life terms when he returns to be sentenced. The date for his sentencing has not yet been set and is expected to be scheduled sometime tomorrow.

On June 5, 2009, a woman called 911 saying she had just been raped inside her Murrieta apartment and that the attacker was outside trying to get back inside. When officers arrived a short time later, the rapist was gone but he left behind a portion of his tongue (about the size of a 50-cent piece) which the victim had bitten off and spit out during the attack.

McGowan badly beat and choked the woman and stole her cell phone.

While at the hospital with the injured woman, police were notified that a man was at the same hospital saying he cut his tongue on a can, Hall said.

Although police recovered the piece of the tongue at the crime scene, doctors were unable to reattach it.

McGowan met the woman on a website where she advertised “erotic services," according to Hall.

"After subsequent media reports of McGowan’s arrest, three more women came forward and told police they too had been raped by him," Hall said.

One of the women was his ex-wife who told police McGowan raped her numerous times and often slapped and punched her during the attacks, Hall said.

"Another woman who reported being raped met McGowan while he was married and working as a food distributor," Hall said.

The third woman was, like the victim in the Murrieta rape, a prostitute who advertised on a website and met McGowan through that site, Hall said.

That victim said McGowan pinned her down and choked her during the April 2009 attack and stole her cell phone, Hall said.

"None of the four woman raped by McGowan knew any of the other victims," Hall said.

McGowan was convicted in 1995 in Sonoma County of multiple crimes, including several sex offenses, Hall said.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Garcia of the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit, according to Hall.

ORIGINAL POST:

Jury deliberations will resume today in the trial of an alleged serial rapist accused of sexually assaulting four women--one of whom bit off part of his tongue during a struggle at a Murrieta apartment.

Ronald Douglas McGowan, 34, could face 56 years to life in prison if convicted of seven counts of forcible rape and other felonies, including sodomy and assault with a deadly weapon.   

The previously convicted rapist is being held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.

The prosecution concluded its case Wednesday, following about five days of testimony from witnesses, including all of the alleged victims.

McGowan testified in his own defense last week.   

Closing statements in the case lasted most of Monday, giving jurors about an hour to weigh evidence before adjourning for the day. The panel was slated to resume deliberations at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday.   

According to Murrieta police, McGowan went to the residence of an escort on June 6, 2009, at Waterstone Apartments. There, he allegedly offered the woman $160 for sex.   

The defendant allegedly put the victim in a choke-hold and threw her on her bed. When she resisted, he allegedly punched her and bound her arms.   

She testified at an August 2009 preliminary hearing that McGowan was "having trouble" becoming erect and stuck his tongue in her mouth, at which point she clamped down, severing a 50-cent-sized piece of flesh. 

The defendant fled the apartment.

Police located the severed tongue at the scene, and were summoned to the Rancho Springs Medical Center, where McGowan went seeking treatment. It was not medically reattached by the time he was jailed on suspicion of the crime, police said at the time.

During the ensuing investigation, McGowan was identified as the alleged perpetrator in three other sexual assaults, at least one of them involving a prostitute.   

In one alleged attack, he stuck his tongue in the victim's mouth, according to investigators.

City News Service contributed to this report.