A 58-year-old man, Kevin Michael Konther, has been handed down a 140-year to life sentence for a series of heinous sexual assaults, including the kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old girl and a female jogger, as well as molesting his former girlfriend's daughter.
Another was convicted last February on multiple felony counts, including forcible rape and a lewd act on a child. In a desperate attempt to avoid justice, Konther had tried to shift the blame onto his identical twin brother. The relentless pursuit of justice by the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has ensured that another monster who preys on young girls and young women will never be free to jump out of the bushes again," according to Orange County DA.
The first of Konther's reported crimes dates back to 1995 when he abducted a young girl returning home from a Lake Forest store with school supplies. In a particularly disturbing account, it was revealed that following the attack, the girl ran home naked but for her notebooks and pencils. Konther struck again three years later, attacking a 32-year-old jogger in Mission Viejo in a similarly violent fashion.
Leading the case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Juliet Oliver referred to Konther as nothing less than a "monster," a term that is emblematic of the horror provoked by his actions. "Only a monster jumps out of the bushes to rape an innocent little girl and then forces her to walk home naked while desperately trying to cover herself with anything she can until she can get home to the safety of her mother’s arms," Oliver stated, as quoted by the Orange County DA's Office.
