LOS ANGELES – A man convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls about three weeks apart in Lancaster in 2015 lost his bid Wednesday to have the California Supreme Court review the case.
Joseph Kenneth Cornett was sentenced in May 2016 to 100 years to life in state prison, with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry J. Hall saying that a “monster” had been stopped and he wanted the two teens to know that “none of this is their fault.”
“It’s Mr. Cornett’s fault,” the judge said, noting that the attacks were among the most brutal sex crimes he had seen in 40 years in the criminal justice system and that it was “highly unlikely that Mr. Cornett will ever be released from custody.”
The judge’s comments were repeatedly interrupted by outbursts from Cornett, who said at one point, “Call me a monster. You’re a monster.”
As statements were read from the victims and one of their mothers about the impact of the attacks, Cornett maintained, “I didn’t rape nobody … I never kidnapped nobody … I was high on PCP. They got in the car on their own.”
At another point, he told the judge, “Stop talking … Come on with the double-life sentences, man … so I don’t have to be around this no more.”
After the judge finished laying out the terms of Cornett’s sentence, Cornett interrupted again to tell him that he, the prosecutor and jurors were “going to hell.”
In a statement read in court on her behalf, one of the victims directly addressed the defendant.
“You raped me. You took away my freedom,” she said.
The other victim called Cornett a `bad person and said she will not let the crime “drive me down.”
Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami said Cornett attacked one of the victims after she accepting a ride from him on April 13, 2015, and targeted the other teen while she walking home from school on May 6, 2015.
Cornett was arrested after that attack when the teen ran half-naked from an abandoned trailer where she had been sexually assaulted and sought help from a motorist who called 911. Cornett tried to flee from responding Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, then punched, kicked and grabbed at them after his car got stuck.
In an April 11 ruling , a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that Cornett’s convictions on sexual offenses involving one of the teens should be overturned based on the trial court judge’s decision to exclude certain evidence about the girl, including details about some of her Facebook posts.
The defense did not challenge Cornett’s convictions on the crimes involving the other teenage girl.
“Contrary to appellant’s assertion, this case was not ‘a paradigmatic credibility contest between appellant and two teenage girls.’ The overwhelming evidence supported appellant’s convictions,” Acting Presiding Justice Judith Ashmann-Gerst wrote on behalf of the panel.
Previous related stories:
Man’s conviction upheld for abducting, sexually assaulting two teens in Lancaster
Rapist gets 100 years to life for abducting, sexually assaulting two teen girls in Lancaster
Man convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Lancaster
Trial begins for man accused of sexually assaulting 2 girls in Lancaster
Man ordered to trial in alleged sexual assaults on two girls in Lancaster
HIV+ man charged with raping another girl in Lancaster
Man pleads not guilty in Lancaster sexual assault
HIV+ man charged in kidnap, rape in Lancaster
Girl allegedly sexually assaulted near Lancaster school, suspect caught
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Sad15 says
Has a lot to do with race, if an hispanic or white does something, oh there was no crime here…
Those girls were probably already manipulated by the Hispanics and their gangsters being drugged and lied too, meth will make you get naked and run around, and who know if he was set up or those girls were part of some skeem to trap this man. Hate to say it but that what is going on in the AV and they have been doing it for how long and why? Why, because there being sold for sex to even the people in high places. After there abused, and hypnotised, compromised, do they know better? MOST LIKELY This is not the end to these girls going through this type behavior. MOST ALL THE GUYS OUT HERE IN THE AV KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH USING A GIRL. SORRY TO SAY BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THEY KNOW THEY CAN MANIPULATE OUR YOUNG, AND ONCE DONE, THEY BECOME “INSTANT PREY” WHY?? MOST LIKELY BEGAN WITH RACIST PEOPLE WORKING IN THE SYSTEM THAT KNOW THEY CAN USE THE COURT’S TO CARRY OUT THERE DIRTY DEEDS AND GET AWAY WITH IT, BECAUSE THE SYSTEM DOESN’T WANT TO BE SUED SO THEY HAVE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES, AND ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. WHAT DO THEY HAVE WAITING FOR OUR YOUNGSTERS. CALL ON THE GANGSTERS THEY HAVE CREATED, THAT’S WHO WILL BECOME THEIR KNEW FAMILY, EVENTUALLY.. AND THESE POOR KIDS DON’T EVEN REALIZE IT.. I EVEN TALKED TO A LADY WHO WORKS IN THE SYSTEM AND SHE TOLD ME HER STORY AND HER DAUGHTER LOST HER KIDS BECAME A DRUG ADDICT, PILL POPPER. LET’S FACE IT, THERE NOT HERE TO HELP, IT’S A TRAP TO ADD YOU TO THE VICTIMS LIST.
Lilian says
No way there is no turn around he was not manipulated he made a choice and it got him where he is . Don’t blame others for his actions .
the anti-Tim Scott says
… I’m sorry, sir. Treyvon’s long lost father is now on the speaking circuit. And, the reverend Al Sharpton is sunning himself poolside to his palatial estate. They can no longer be bothered to pull strings, or come to the brotha’s rescue –
Tim Scott says
So, by “anti” you mean that you are the raving nonsense opposite version?
Is your comment supposed to make some sort of sense, or is it just random offensive things strung together without any attempt at order?