A Lancaster man has been convicted of sexually assaulting five women over a five-year period in the Los Angeles and Lancaster areas, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today.

James Smith, 38, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 2 in Department 124 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center following his conviction on Monday. He faces up to life in state prison.

Deputy District Attorney Lowrie Mendoza with the Sex Crimes Division is prosecuting the case.

Smith was convicted of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman on Dec. 24, 2009; a 43-year-old woman on Sept. 24, 2011; a 33-year-old woman on March 22, 2012; and a 28-year-old woman on Dec. 6, 2013.

Smith was arrested on June 16, 2014, by Sheriff's deputies after he abducted a 19-year-old female college student in Lancaster and sexually assaulted her.

A jury late Monday found Smith guilty of nine felony counts, including three counts of forcible rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation, and one count each of sexual penetration by a foreign object, sodomy by use of force, attempted sodomy by use of force and kidnapping.

The Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Special Victims Bureau investigated case BA426228.

Los Angeles County District Attorney / case BA426228 / October 18, 2016