Suspected cold case serial rapist and sex offender arrested for crimes dating back 25 years

CORONA, Calif. - A suspected cold case serial rapist and sex offender was arrested and charged with crimes in Corona and Riverside dating back almost 25 years, authorities announced Wednesday.

Darin Edward Cooke, 50, was charged with 16 felony counts including six counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, three counts of assault with the intent to commit rape or oral copulation during a first-degree burglary, two counts of kidnap with the intent to commit rape or oral copulation, and one count of forcible sexual penetration.

Each of the 16 counts carries a potential life sentence if convicted.

Charges one through 11 involve crimes that took place in the city of Riverside between 1996 and 1998, authorities said. Counts 12 through 16 involve crimes occurring in the city of Corona in 2007.

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Authorities said there are a total of six victims, five of whom were forcibly raped. Either a knife or a handgun was used by the suspect in all the charged crimes.

Cooke was identified as a suspect in early 2019 through DNA evidence left at the scenes. He was arrested on May 16 in Prescott, Arizona. Cooke was residing in Chino Valley, Arizona at the time of his arrest and has been living in Arizona for several years.

He was extradited to California on June 14 and is scheduled to be video arraigned on Wednesday.

If anyone believes they also may have been a victim of the defendant charged in this case, they are asked to contact Supervising DA Investigator Ryan Bodmer at 951-955-5400.