SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A 39-year-old has been arraigned in connection with a string of sexual assaults in Contra Costa County.
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Christopher Owens appeared in the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez on Tuesday afternoon, facing 12 felony charges – seven of which carry sex crime enhancements – and a lone misdemeanor, according to Contra Costa County court records.
Owens' charges included three felony counts of forcible rape, two felony counts of forced sexual penetration, two felony counts of first degree burglary with intent to commit sexual assault, two felony counts of inflicting, causing or permitting injury against an elder, dependent adult or person with a disability and a felony count of assault with intent to commit sexual assault.
The charges range from March 2017 until as recently as earlier this month. Bay Area News Group obtained court records alleging that, just this year, Owens attempted to and then sexually assaulted a woman in her Martinez home in February, sexually battered a woman vandalized her bedroom in March and, then, sexually assaulted an unhoused woman on July 2 after offering to buy her cigarettes.
The documents alleged that Owens raped an unhoused woman inside of his truck in Walnut Creek following her release from county jail. Authorities reconnected with that woman after investigating Owens for the attempted and actual assaults in unincorporated Martinez in February.
Investigators linked Owens to both attacks through a search in an FBI DNA database, connecting him to a number of other assaults soon after.
In August 2017, Owens allegedly raped an unhoused woman from a Concord encampment in his pickup truck after asking her if she wanted to get high. In October 2020, Owens then allegedly assaulted and attempted to rape a person.
Police arrested Owens at his Martinez home on July 7, according to Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office records and the court documents the Bay Area News Group obtained. His arrest warrant was recalled in Tuesday's court hearing, according to court records.
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