Irvine man arrested in connection to Irvine, Newport sexual assaults

Irvine police arrested a man linked as a suspect in three sexual assaults in Newport Beach and Irvine dating to 2005.

Prosecutors plan to charge him with felony sexual battery in the Newport case, according to Newport police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.

Travis Dewayne Batten Jr., 29 of Irvine, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection with a sexual assault that occurred in Newport Beach in May 2005, and two other cases that occurred in Irvine in November 2006 and July 2010, Irvine police said in a news release.

FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version misspelled Travis Dewayne Batten Jr.’s last name.

DNA samples recovered from the three crime scenes matched each other but didn’t match law enforcement data bases.

Fingerprints recovered during a police surveillance operation in Irvine last month matched a fingerprint recovered in the Newport case, the release said. A prowler was reported in the vicinity of the two previous assaults in June.

Irvine police had been watching the area since July 2010, the release said.

Batten was booked into the Orange County Jail on multiple counts of rape and other felonies, and is being held without bail, the release said.