Santa Paula man pleads guilty to sexual assault » News Talk 1590 KVTA

Friday, May 17, 2024

(Photos courtesy of VCSO)

A Ventura County man has pleaded guilty in connection with two sexual assaults in September 2022.

Eliel Mejia, 23, of Santa Paula, has pleaded guilty to one count of assault with intent to commit rape and one count of threatening criminals.

He also acknowledged two specific allegations that the victims were at risk and that the crimes required planning and sophistication.

The individual incidents involved two Ventura women in their late 20s, one incident occurring on September 13th and the other on September 29th.

In both cases, Mejia approached the women at locations in Ventura, where he lured them into his pickup truck with the promise of smoking marijuana.

The women told authorities that Mejia had two dogs in the truck.

He drove the women to various remote locations near Ventura, where he assaulted them and, in one case, threatened the woman with a knife.

Authorities identified and arrested Mejia two days after the second attack.

Mejia’s guilty pleas came as he was about to go to trial.

He remains in prison and will be sentenced on June 17.