Jury Finds ‘Orange Grove Rapist’ Guilty of Multiple Felonies

A 34-year-old Santa Ana man dubbed the “Orange Grove Rapist” was found guilty by a Superior Court jury Monday of 17 felony counts of rape, kidnapping and assault.

Jesus Solorio, who victimized women from 1992 through November 1995, was considered Orange County’s most prevalent rapist in terms of the number of victims in recent years, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg.

Jurors deliberated for a day and a half before they found Solorio guilty of the kidnap, rape and assault of four women and of five attempted rapes, Froeberg said.

During the trial, the victims gave similar scenarios of Solorio’s attacks. He abducted them at bus stops and forced them into a car at knifepoint or with a gun, they testified. Then he drove them to an orange grove in Irvine where they were sexually assaulted, they said.

Solorio was arrested after a woman saw him walking near the site where she had been kidnapped two years ago. She noted the license plate number of the car he got into and called police.

After a short stakeout at Solorio’s house, police watched him get into the car the woman had described and drive away. He was arrested a short time later.

The woman said she had been kidnapped and raped on June 5, 1995. As she waited at a bus stop, a man with a handgun forced her into his car, drove her to an orange grove in Irvine and raped her, she testified.

In another case, a 25-year-old woman walking with her two children was approached by a man who threatened them with a handgun. He forced them into his car and drove them to an orange grove, police said.

The woman was able to distract the attacker and fled with her children, police said. They were not harmed.

Sentencing for Solorio will be before Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey on June 6.