Man to stand trial for alleged sexual assaults in Coachella Valley
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A man accused of sexually assaulting four women, several of whom were drugged, in the Coachella Valley must stand trial on nearly a dozen felony charges, a judge ruled today.
Juan Carlos Segura Jr., 28, of Palm Springs was arrested in 2024 following a Palm Springs Police Department investigation.
At the end of a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Susanne Cho found there was sufficient evidence to bound Segura over for trial on two counts each of forcible rape, rape of an intoxicated person and rape of an unconscious victim, as well as one count each of sodomy of an intoxicated person, sodomy of an unconscious victim and oral copulation of an intoxicated person, with sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims in sex crimes.
Cho scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Jan. 28 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio and ordered that the defendant remain held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to police, the first alleged assault occurred on March 24, 2024, after Segura met a woman who went out with the defendant.
Court documents indicated that during the encounter, he allegedly slipped narcotics into whatever the woman was consuming, causing her to pass out. Shortly afterward, the defendant allegedly raped her several times, court papers alleged.
The woman was left at an unspecified location. After she regained consciousness, she did not report the assault to law enforcement for reasons unclear.
On Aug. 16, 2024, Segura met a different allegedly repeating the same methods used on the prior victim, causing her to lose consciousness, after which she was raped and copulated, according to the district Attorney's Office.
The following day, the defendant connected with a third woman utilizing an anesthetizing substance to cause her to black out, court papers alleged. He then allegedly sodomized the victim for an unspecified period in a motel room, evidently departing before she regained consciousness, according to prosecutors.
On Aug. 19, 2024, another woman whom Segura met casually was allegedly corralled by the defendant before he could administer any substances. Court papers alleged the defendant prevented the victim from getting away and raped her.
She immediately reported the assault to Palm Springs police, who set about trying to find Segura.
"He does not have an address where he resides exclusively and is known to stay at multiple places throughout the Coachella Valley,'' investigators wrote in a bail-setting affidavit. "Detectives had a difficult time locating him."
They eventually found him on Aug. 21, 2024, taking him into custody without incident.
The ensuing investigation, spanning almost six months, resulted in identification of all of the victims, who provided statements and physical evidence to support their allegations, according to the prosecution.
Segura has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
