Rape suspect found hanged in jail cell

Eron Ben-Yehuda

A Huntington Beach man accused of rape and indecent exposure was found

hanged in his jail cell last week, authorities said.

After the limp body of Calvin Cunningham, 24, was discovered at about 11

a.m. last Thursday, emergency lifesaving techniques were administered to

try to revive him, officials said.

The day before he was charged with the rape of a 35-year-old jogger at

Fairview Regional Park in Costa Mesa and the sexual assault of a

16-year-old as she walked to her Westminster home in July. DNA tests

allegedly linked him to the crimes.

Cunningham was already facing a series of indecent exposure charges,

including flashing two women in Huntington Beach in September.

After attempts to resuscitate him failed, officers took him to St.

Joseph’s Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead. The

Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating the apparent

suicide.