Alleged Serial Rapist Behind Bars

An alleged serial rapist who is suspected of committing crimes in Lake Elsinore and the Temecula area was charged Tuesday.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office charged Murrieta resident Melbrough Williams Jr., 44, with 13 felonies in connection with the rapes of four female prostitutes.

Williams was scheduled to be arraigned today but was not cleared to be in court by jail officials due to an unspecified medical issue, the DA’s office reported. The arraignment is now scheduled for tomorrow at Southwest Justice Center.

According to the DA’s office, Williams is charged with seven counts of rape by force, three counts of robbery, and one count each of kidnap for rape, oral copulation by force, and sexual penetration by a foreign object. Also included are allegations of sexual offense of a kidnapped victim, sexual offenses with more than one victim, and personal use of a firearm.

If convicted as charged, Williams faces multiple life sentences.

One of the victims was raped in October 2002 in the Lake Elsinore area after being kidnapped from a location in Orange County; the three other victims were raped in the Temecula area in May, June and July of this year, the DA’s office alleges.

The victims in this case were all working as prostitutes at the time of the crimes; Williams reportedly met the three most recent victims online, according to the DA’s office.

The woman who was allegedly raped in Lake Elsinore was picked up on an Anaheim street by Williams, the DA’s office reported.

Williams was arrested in Costa Mesa July 27 and is currently being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.