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Published on November 08, 2024
Clover Leaf Rapist Convicted in Sacramento of Multiple Sexual Assaults, Faces Life in PrisonSource: Google Street View

JD Simien, known as the Clover Leaf Rapist, was convicted on October 31, 2024, for a series of brutal sexual assaults dating back more than a decade, as reported by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office. A jury found Simien guilty of two counts of kidnapping to commit another crime, two counts of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery by restraint, and assault with the intent to commit rape/sodomy/oral copulation. Enhancements for kidnapping, multiple victims, and the use of a knife during the crimes were also affirmed by the jury's verdict.

These convictions stem from a string of violent acts that took place between 2013 and 2014 at the clover leaf section of Madison and I-80. His reign of terror began on December 10, 2013, when the first victim was accosted and dragged away to be strangled and raped. Simien threatened her life if she reported the attack. According to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office press release, the subsequent assaults followed a terrifyingly similar pattern, with the second incident occurring on January 8, 2014, involving a victim who was offered a ride by Simien, only to be stabbed, strangled, and sexually assaulted.

In the third reported case, dating from March 8, 2014, yet another victim accepted a ride from Simien and was subsequently attacked in an empty parking lot. She managed to escape despite being choked and groped. DNA evidence played a crucial role in linking Simien to the crimes. A decade after the attacks, Investigative Genetic Genealogy was used to identify Simien as the perpetrator behind these heinous acts.

Simien now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars, with the sentence extendable up to 89 years to life in prison. The seriousness of the offenses and the impact on the victims were highlighted by the prosecution. The sentencing hearing has been scheduled for January 10, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. in Department 12.