A registered sex offender from Oakland is back in custody this week facing new felony charges of rape and other sex crimes in Berkeley, court papers show.
On Thursday, the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Anthony Aaron, 58, with rape, attempted oral copulation by force and sexual penetration by a foreign object in connection with events in Berkeley and Oakland that took place over two consecutive days in October 2016, according to police and charging documents.
It isn’t Aaron’s first time in trouble with the law. In 2006, he was sent to prison after being convicted in Alameda County of rape and committing a lewd act upon a child under 14, according to court papers. He was released in 2013, according to the Megan’s Law database run by the state Department of Justice.
More recently, Berkeley sex crimes detectives had been looking into Aaron after a woman reported being sexually assaulted in and near Berkeley on Oct. 6-7, 2016, according to court papers. Police did not identify those locations in the documents that are part of the public record. BPD said shortly after publication that the incidents took place in West Berkeley and North Oakland.
“Aaron threatened, physically assaulted and coerced the victim into the sex acts,” police wrote in charging papers, which otherwise included few details due to the nature of the case. The woman reported the sexual assaults to police in 2017.
Berkeley detectives arrested Aaron on Tuesday morning at the Oakland Police Department after he showed up at the station for his annual sex offender registration, according to BPD and charging documents.
The new charges against Aaron include a long list of special allegations that could result in a stiffer sentence if he is convicted. Those allegations include kidnapping, identify Aaron as a habitual sex offender and say — in relation to the 2016 case — that he committed multiple sex crimes against the same person on separate occasions, according to court papers. (Under the law, separate offenses can take place even within a short period of time depending on the circumstances.)
Aaron’s 2006 conviction stemmed from a rape that took place in June 2003. He was originally charged with six felonies in that case, including rape, forced oral copulation and four counts of lewd acts upon a child. Aaron ultimately entered no-contest pleas to rape and one count of lewd acts, and the other charges were dismissed, according to court records.
In addition to his sex crimes convictions, Aaron was convicted in 1989 of drug sales or transportation. He has one strike, according to court papers.
According to his Megan’s Law record, Aaron was assessed by authorities in 2018 for the possibility that he would commit violent crimes again. He was placed in the highest-risk category in that ranking.
Aaron, who is a student according to his booking record, was arraigned Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court. His next court date was not listed in the records available online as of publication time. No bail amount was listed.
Berkeleyside updated this story shortly after publication with some additional details from BPD.
