A second victim was screaming for help when law enforcement arrived
In the quiet wilderness of the Angeles National Forest, a pattern of predation spanning more than a decade finally met its legal reckoning. Eduardo Sarabia, 41, was sentenced to nearly 26 years in a California state prison for the sexual assault of two women on consecutive nights in May 2024, as well as crimes against two children reaching back to 2010. The case is a sobering reminder that isolation — whether geographic or social — can render the vulnerable invisible to those who might protect them, and that the machinery of justice, however delayed, carries the weight of many silenced years.
- On back-to-back nights in a remote canyon above Azusa, Sarabia lured and attacked two women, exploiting the darkness and isolation of Angeles National Forest to commit violent assaults.
- A second victim was still trapped inside Sarabia's van when sheriff's deputies arrived the following day — her screams cutting through the wilderness and alerting officers to a crime still unfolding.
- The charges revealed not a single moment of violence but a sustained pattern: lewd acts against two children spanning years between 2010 and 2022, culminating in the brutal assaults of 2024.
- Sarabia pleaded no contest to forcible rape, oral copulation, kidnapping, and crimes against children — a legal acknowledgment of harm that prosecutors called horrific and incomprehensible.
- With a sentence of 25 years and eight months, Sarabia will remain imprisoned well into his sixties, but authorities warn that additional victims may still exist and have not yet come forward.
Eduardo Sarabia, 41, will spend the next 25 years and eight months in a California state prison after pleading no contest to a series of violent and predatory crimes — including forcible rape, oral copulation, kidnapping, and lewd acts against two children spanning more than a decade.
The most recent crimes unfolded over two consecutive nights in May 2024. On May 12, Sarabia approached a woman near the El Monte Metrolink Station, offered her a ride, and drove her to a remote canyon area along Highway 39 in the hills above Azusa, where he assaulted her. The following night, in the same isolated location, he attacked a second woman. Both assaults occurred between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
What may have prevented further harm was the arrival of a sheriff's patrol. When deputies returned to the scene the next day to investigate the first incident, they found Sarabia's van still parked there — and a second victim inside, screaming for help. Her cries alerted officers to an active crime in progress. Sarabia was arrested that same day and has remained in custody ever since.
The charges against him extended far beyond those two nights. Lewd act counts involving two children pointed to a history of abuse reaching back to 2010, painting a picture of predatory conduct sustained across more than a decade. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón called what the two women endured "horrific and violent" and said the office's thoughts remained with the survivors.
The sentence ensures Sarabia will be removed from society through his sixties. But the case leaves open questions about how long he operated undetected, how he selected his victims, and whether others have yet to come forward. For the four known victims, the verdict is a legal acknowledgment of harm — one that cannot undo what was done, but places it firmly on the record.
Eduardo Sarabia, 41, will spend the next 25 years and eight months in a California state prison for sexually assaulting two women in the Angeles National Forest over the course of two nights in May 2024. He pleaded no contest to charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, and kidnapping related to those attacks, along with separate counts involving lewd acts against two children spanning years—one victim between 2010 and 2012, another between 2021 and 2022.
The first assault occurred on May 12 in the remote canyon hills above Azusa, in the area along Highway 39. Sarabia approached a woman near the El Monte Metrolink Station, engaged her in conversation, and offered her a ride. He then drove her to the secluded location where the attack took place. The second assault happened the following night, May 13, in the same general area. Both attacks occurred between 9:30 and 10 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
What likely prevented a third assault was the timing of a sheriff's patrol. When deputies arrived at the location the next day to investigate the first incident, they found Sarabia's van still at the scene—and a second victim inside, screaming for help. The woman's cries alerted the arriving officers to an active crime in progress. Sarabia was arrested on May 13 and has remained in custody since that date.
The charges Sarabia faced encompassed a pattern of predatory behavior that extended well beyond the May 2024 incidents. The lewd act charges involving children suggested a history of abuse spanning more than a decade, though the source material does not detail the circumstances of those earlier crimes or provide information about the children's ages at the time of sentencing. The breadth of the charges—spanning from 2010 to 2022 and culminating in the violent assaults of 2024—painted a picture of sustained criminal conduct.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón released a statement acknowledging the severity of what the two women endured. "The horrific and violent sexual assault that these two survivors endured by the alleged suspect is deeply troubling and incomprehensible," he said, adding that the office's thoughts were with the victims during what he characterized as an extraordinarily difficult period. The statement reflected the gravity with which prosecutors approached the case, though it offered no additional detail about the victims' current condition or support services.
The sentencing brings closure to the criminal proceedings, but it also raises questions about how Sarabia operated undetected for so long, how he selected his victims, and whether there may be others who have not yet come forward. The fact that he was able to approach a woman at a public transit station, convince her to enter his vehicle, and drive her to an isolated location suggests either a practiced approach or a chilling degree of audacity. The second victim's rescue by chance—the result of a routine patrol—underscores how easily such crimes can go unwitnessed in remote areas.
Sarabia's arrest on May 13 and his continued incarceration since that date mean he has spent the months between his detention and sentencing behind bars. The 25-year-and-eight-month sentence ensures he will remain imprisoned well into his sixties, effectively removing him from society for the remainder of his active years. For the two women assaulted in May 2024, and for the two children whose abuse spanned years, the sentence represents a legal acknowledgment of harm—though it cannot undo what was done.
Citações Notáveis
The horrific and violent sexual assault that these two survivors endured by the alleged suspect is deeply troubling and incomprehensible.— Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a case like this matter beyond the immediate victims?
Because it reveals how predators operate in plain sight. He approached someone at a public transit station—a place thousands of people pass through daily—and convinced her to go with him. That's not random. That's a practiced approach.
The second victim was found screaming. That's almost luck, isn't it?
Entirely luck. A sheriff's patrol happened to be in that remote canyon the next day. If they'd come an hour later, or not at all, we might not be talking about a rescue. We'd be talking about another crime scene.
What strikes you about the span of charges—from 2010 to 2024?
That he wasn't stopped. The lewd act charges involving children go back fourteen years. Somehow he continued operating, continued finding victims, continued escalating. The system didn't catch him until he attacked two women in consecutive nights in a place where a patrol happened to be.
Do you think there are other victims?
Almost certainly. Men who operate this way, who target vulnerable people in isolated locations, don't suddenly start in 2010 or 2024. The charges we know about are the ones that stuck, the ones that were reported or discovered. There are likely others.
What does the sentence actually accomplish?
It removes him from society. It says the state recognizes what he did and has decided he doesn't belong in the world for the next 25 years. For the victims, it's an acknowledgment. For public safety, it's containment. But it doesn't undo anything.