SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : The Local Review / DEVELOPMENTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Man Gets 990 Years to Life in Series of Rapes

VAN NUYS —  A serial rapist who repeatedly assaulted five women was sentenced to 990 years to life in prison Monday.

A jury convicted Carlos Rodriguez last month on 22 sexual assault charges. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt sentenced him to between 25 years and 75 years to life on each count and ordered all but two of them to be served consecutively.

The sentence was the result of one-strike rape laws, three-strikes legislation and a finding by Rosenblatt that the punishment for each of the sex acts should be cumulative because Rodriguez had time to reflect between the multiple assaults, yet continued to attack his victims.

The attacks occurred in Covina, Hacienda Heights, La Puente and Los Angeles.

Rodriguez’s sentence is not the longest in the state, according to officials at the attorney general’s office. A Sacramento judge recently sentenced a man to more than 1,000 years in prison, a spokesman said.

Deputy Public Defender Brady Sullivan said the sentence trivializes other crimes by comparison.

“Second-degree murder in the state of California carries a sentence of 15 years to life. What the court is suggesting is that the crimes committed in this case are 75 times more severe and deserve more of a severe sanction than killing someone.”

Deputy Dist. Atty Mary Suzukawa said rapists now routinely get multiple life terms with very long minimum sentences because of recent legislative changes, including the one-strike law that requires a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for certain sexual assaults.

“Our concern is that he doesn’t get back out on the streets,” she said. “I think everybody knows that rapists are the highest recidivists and that’s why the laws are the way they are.”