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March 5, 2003

Accused Ocean Beach Rapist Forgoes Hearing

From: KGTV, CA - 05 Mar 2003

Bladow Faces 8 Years In Prison


SAN DIEGO -- A deaf Orange County man accused of raping a 21-year-old woman at an Ocean Beach hostel last month agreed Wednesday to forgo a preliminary hearing and proceed to trial.

John Bladow, 44, of Costa Mesa, is charged with rape of an unconscious person. He faces eight years in state prison if convicted.

At a disposition conference, Bladow stipulated that his case could proceed directly to trial in Superior Court. He will be back in court April 23 for a readiness conference. Trial was set for June 3.

The Feb. 18 attack was the second in a series of three apparently unrelated sexual assaults in the beach area over a six-day period, police said.

Bladow -- held on $50,000 bail -- was arrested Feb. 22 as he returned to the hostel on Newport Avenue.

The victim said she fell asleep in a common room at the inn after attending a party there. She said she awoke around 4 a.m. to find a stranger assaulting her, according to investigators.

The crime occurred three days after a street rape a few blocks away, and two days before another one in the nearby Point Loma community.

About 1 a.m. on Feb. 15, a man grabbed another 21-year-old woman as she walked along Narragansett Avenue, near Bacon Street, pulled her down between two parked cars and assaulted her.

A little more than 48 hours later, three men jumped an 18-year-old student as she was walking to her high school in the 1400 block of Banning Street. The assailants forced her into a silver van and raped her, police said.

Despite their proximity in time and place, the rapes apparently were unrelated, according to police.

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