Ex-Con Sylvester Gene Rawls Accused Of Attacking Girl In School Restroom

Torrance - An ex-con was charged today with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint in a restroom at Redondo Union High School in August 2003.

Sylvester Gene Rawls, 45, of Long Beach, appeared before a Torrance Superior Court judge, who set bail at $2 million.

The defendant is awaiting arraignment Jan. 21 on two felony counts of forcible oral copulation, along with the allegation that he used a knife.

Rawls was allegedly linked to the Aug. 28, 2003, attack through DNA evidence. He gave a DNA sample after being convicted in federal court of conspiracy to manufacture PCP, according to authorities.

Rawls, who was not a school employee at the time of the campus crime, was arrested Monday by Redondo Beach police near his Long Beach home.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison, according to the District Attoey's Office.