An Oceanside man who struck multiple women in the buttocks while biking past them at the Calavera Preserve in Carlsbad was sentenced Monday to six months in county jail and must register as a sex offender.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of sexual battery for what Carlsbad police described as a series of assaults on women hiking on the trail.
Police said he would approach victims from behind on an e-bike and hit their buttocks as he rode past.
He was arrested on Jan. 30 after police responded to one such incident and spotted a man who matched a suspect description provided by the victim, police said.
A criminal complaint outlines nine separate victims and incidents occurring from last September through Jan. 30.
He pleaded guilty to four of the sexual battery counts in that case.
He also pleaded guilty to a sexual battery count in a separate case involving a female victim, though it’s unclear if that case is connected to the Calavera Preserve incidents.