One 15-year-old girl returning home from school thought she was being arrested by a police officer, instead it was an HIV-infected convict on probation. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Joseph Kenneth Cornett impersonated a police officer and approached the girl for jaywalking. He pretended to take her into custody and brought her back to the school where he took her to an empty mobile classroom. It was there that he sexually assaulted the teen, who managed to escape from the classroom and ran screaming for help.
Several bystanders leaving the Lancaster Baptist Church across the street from the school heard her cries and saw Cornett running from the mobile trailer and chased after him. Cornett was able to jump into his car and attempted to flee the scene but his car got stuck and police were soon on the scene to make an arrest. Cornett fought with officers at the scene and was eventually put in restraints and a facemask because he spat at officers. Cornett was on probation at the time of the assault and now faces numerous felony charges, which include kidnapping to commit rape; assault with intent to commit a felony, victim under 18; kidnapping; lewd act upon a child; false imprisonment by violence; sexual penetration by foreign object, minor over 14; attempted forcible rape; assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury; and attempted unprotected sexual activity by one who knows self to be infected by HIV. Cornett was also charged with seven misdemeanor counts of resisting a peace officer and one misdemeanor count of possessing a controlled substance, PCP.
On Monday he pleaded not guilty to the felony charges and his bail was set at $1.2 million.
