Crime & Safety

Man Pleads Guilty in MySpace Rapes

Jason Ara Erpinar, who met his Newport Beach victim on the social networking site, pleads guilty to two felony counts of rape by intoxication and one felony count of forcible rape.

A man pleaded guilty Monday to raping three women—one of whom he met on MySpace and raped at a Newport Beach hotel, the Orange County district attorney's office reported.

Jason Ara Erpinar, 22, of Yorba Linda, entered a guilty plea to two felony counts of rape by intoxication and one felony count of forcible rape. He is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and is expected to receive 15 years in state prison, according to the district attorney's office.

In March 2008, prosecutors say, Erpinar met a 22-year-old woman on MySpace and drank alcohol with her at two parks in Orange County. Erpinar then drove the woman to a hotel in Newport Beach and raped her. The next morning the woman awoke with a cracked tooth and scrapes on her face. She reported the incident to police, but a criminal case could not be filed due to a lack of evidence, the district attorney's office said.

In March 2009, Erpinar met an 18-year-old woman—again on MySpace—and invited her to a house party in La Habra. The woman became severely intoxicated at the party and was raped on the floor of a bedroom by Erpinar. She reported the rape to the La Habra Police Department the next day. During the investigation, Erpinar's ex-girlfriend told police he physically abused her and raped her when she was 17 years old.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City News Service contributed to this report.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.