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Jury Convicts Violent Child Rapist in King City whose Identity was Discovered from DNA Found in a Discarded COVID Mask

SALINAS, California- Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Wednesday, March 31 that on Tuesday, March 30 a Monterey County jury found 28-year-old Leonardo Ramirez Jr. of King City, guilty of violently raping a 10-year-old girl, during the commission of a residential burglary in which he had the intent to commit a sex offense. The jury also found that he personally inflicted bodily harm on the child and personally used a dangerous weapon. On February 3, 2018 at around 7 am as a 10-year-old girl woke up to a man in her bedroom wearing a mask over his entire face, gloves, a dark hoody, and who was holding what looked like a black handgun. When she tried to scream for help, he covered her mouth and nose and told her to shut up as he pointed the gun at her head. She was scared for her life and complied. For over 2 years, police interviewed suspects and took DNA swabs, trying to identify the young girl's rapist. However, all potential suspects were excluded by the DNA analysis. Law enforcement uploaded the rapist’s DNA profile to the FBI’s DNA database, CODIS, but received no matches. Law enforcement even did a familial DNA search to possibly identify relatives of the rapist, but still were unable to find any clues that could identify the perpetrator. In February 2020, as the case was about to go cold, police received a break. Leonardo Ramirez Jr., a cousin-in-law of the young girl, added her on SnapChat. Because he was so much older, this made the girl suspicious. The girl remembered that Ramirez had a similar accent and similar build to her rapist and she alerted the detectives. For multiple months, police tried to devise a ruse so that they could obtain Ramirez’s DNA without him knowing. On May 20, 2020, King City Police set up a meeting with Ramirez under the pretext of discussing another burglary investigation. When Ramirez entered the police station, the detectives threw away their used COVID masks and put on new ones. They then offered Ramirez a new surgical mask to replace his old one. He accepted the new mask and discarded his old one into a waste bin that was actually lined with an evidence bag. Police sent the mask for DNA testing with a rush request. Because of the seriousness of the case, the California Department of Justice expedited the request and was able to confirm 10 days later that Ramirez was in fact the young girl’s rapist. Judge Rafael Vasquez will preside over the sentencing. Ramirez will receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole because of the various factual enhancements that the jury found true. The case was primarily investigated by Sergeants Joshue Partida and Leo Guzman of the Greenfield Police department and Detective John Dow and retired Detective Steven Kennedy of the King City Police Department.

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