Rapist sentenced to 129 years

A registered sex offender from Huntington Beach received a 129-year prison sentence Friday for sexually assaulting four women in 2007 and videotaping his crimes.

James Ernest Bledsoe, 30, was convicted Oct. 20 of felony forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by a foreign object by force, failure to register as a sex offender and other counts. He previously was convicted of child molestation.

The first attack took place June 30, 2007, when Bledsoe offered a ride home to a woman who had passed out after drinking at a Costa Mesa nightclub, drove her to his apartment and raped and digitally penetrated her. He committed similar attacks July 15 and Oct. 8 in Huntington Beach.

Bledsoe was arrested after a fourth attack Dec. 14, in which he took a woman to a Costa Mesa nightclub, then brought her back to his home and raped her. San Diego police later arrested Bledsoe as he attempted to flee over the Mexican border.

Huntington Beach police discovered videos of the second and third attacks during their investigation and matched Bledsoe’s DNA to evidence from the first attack.

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Twitter: @MichaelMillerHB