A 31-year-old Long Beach man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for kidnapping two teenage girls and raping a 20-year-old woman in assaults spanning a one-month period, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today.

Samuel Alexander Vasquez was sentenced yesterday by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo. The defendant was found guilty in February of two counts of kidnapping, three counts of forcible rape and one count each of forcible oral copulation and assault with a deadly weapon.

Deputy District Attorney Emily Spear of the Sex Crimes Division prosecuted the case.

Vasquez kidnapped a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint as she walked in South Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 2016. He then raped her in his car, the prosecutor said.

On Oct. 19, 2016, a 20-year-old woman accepted a ride from Vasquez in South Los Angeles and then she also was raped in his car.

More than a week later, he forced a 14-year-old girl into his car at knifepoint and sexually assaulted her in his vehicle. He also tried to inject her with a syringe.

Case BA451934 was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division.

Los Angeles District Attorney / Case BA451934 / April 27, 2018