DNA match yields conviction of rapist

A 26-year-old Seaside man was convicted of rape after investigators linked him to an assault with DNA testing.

A jury on Wednesday found Jose Manuel Ybanez guilty of one count of forcible rape and one count of assault. Judge Lydia Villarreal is scheduled to sentence Ybanez on Aug. 2. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years to life.

Prosecutors said Ybanez followed a 16-year-old girl to her sister's apartment on Sept. 10, 2005, and asked if she wanted to party. When she neared the apartment, Ybanez grabbed her and punched her in the face, fracturing her jaw. He then raped her.

A sexual assalt exam performed at a hospital yielded a semen specimen and, in Nov. 2006, the state Department of Justice notified the Marina Department of Public Safety that they had discovered a match with the DNA in the semen to the DNA that Ybanez had been required to provide in a previous felony case.