Southwest RivCo Man Accused Of Raping Teen Girls

MURRIETA, CA — A 29-year-old Lake Elsinore man accused of sexually assaulting three girls was charged Tuesday with rape and other offenses.

Morgan Delos Fowler was arrested last Thursday following a Riverside County sheriff's investigation that stemmed from an anonymous tip.

Along with three counts of rape of a minor, Fowler is charged with one count each of forcible sodomy, assault resulting in great bodily injury, penetration with a foreign object, unlawful intercourse with a minor and contacting a minor for the purpose of committing a sexual offense, with sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims in a sex crime.

The defendant pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Sept. 6 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Fowler, who has no documented prior felony convictions, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

According to sheriff's officials, the investigation was initiated last month when a caller left a message on the We Tip hotline stating that the defendant was possibly engaged in distributing child pornography.

Detectives soon obtained evidence indicating Fowler allegedly had intimate contact with three girls from the Lake Elsinore area, according to the sheriff's department.

The girls, ranging from 14 to 17 years old, were allegedly victimized between 2015 and this year. It was unclear how Fowler became acquainted with the teenagers, or where the alleged assaults occurred.

— By City News Service