Three-year sentence for man who raped woman in Rancho Mirage

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – A 27-year-old man who sexually assaulted a woman in Rancho Mirage was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison.

Reginald Demond Macon Jr., of Indio, pleaded guilty in March to rape by force or fear as part of a deal with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his confession, prosecutors dropped three charges of similar crimes against the defendant.

During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Melissa Hale confirmed the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence set by the prosecution and defense.

According to Sgt. Dan Milbrandt of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, patrol officers were called to a trauma center in the Coachella Valley in the early hours of December 9, 2023 to investigate reports of a sexual assault.

They encountered the victim, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents. She reported being attacked at a residence in the 41000 block of Indian Trail near San Gorgonio Road, providing specific details and a detailed description of her attacker.

Milbrandt said investigators soon identified Macon as the attacker.

Any connection to the victim was not disclosed.

The defendant was arrested without incident on December 20, 2023 in the 47000 block of Van Buren Street in Indio.

He had no documented criminal history in Riverside County.