Rapist who ‘terrorized’ women faces more than 350 years in prison, Sacramento DA says

A man could be sentenced to more than 365 years in prison after he was convicted Wednesday by a Sacramento jury of sexually assaulting five women, as well as raping and kidnapping some of the victims, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

Octavian Joseph, 28, forced five women to perform oral sex on him and raped three of them, prosecutors said in a news release. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound man would subdue victims by slapping them, punching them and grabbing their hair to terrorize them into the assaults that stretched from February to December of 2019, the news release said.

“Some of the assaults were committed repeatedly on the same victim over periods of time,” prosecutors added.

One victim escaped Joseph by rolling out of a moving car, the news release said.

Joseph was convicted in Sacramento Superior Court of eight counts of forcible oral copulation, five counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of attempted rape.

Law enforcement caught Joseph when they pulled over a victim who had him in his car, the news release said. The woman reported what happened to her, and he was linked to other incidents through DNA, the news release added.

A judge could sentence Joseph to 366 years and 8 months to life in prison, prosecutors said.

Joseph’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 19.

This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 5:05 PM.