A self-described “incel” was arrested last week following several incidents in which the suspect recorded himself harassing and pepper-spraying women in Orange County, California.
KTLA reported that Johnny Deven Young, 25, was detained by San Mateo County authorities and charged with four felony counts of assault with great bodily injury, four felony counts of illegal use of tear gas, four felony use of a deadly weapon enhancements, eight felony hate crime enhancements, and five misdemeanor counts of violation of civil rights.
Young was convicted on the misdemeanor case and transported to Orange County jail. The suspect was previously convicted of a hate crime in Nevada, according to police.
The latest charges against Young accused the man of recording himself making vulgar and sexually explicit comments to women and, in some cases, even assaulting them with pepper spray.
The first incident occurred at a local bar in November and involved a 29-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man.
Costa Mesa police said that the suspect was “verbally harassing” the woman and using “explicit language, saying he wanted to see her genitals, and asked to have sexual relations with her.”
Another man noticed the confrontation and ran over to help the woman. At that point, Young allegedly assaulted the man and the woman with pepper spray. Young fled the scene before law enforcement arrived.
Police discovered Young’s social media accounts, which revealed a pattern of harassing women, recording the encounters, and posting the footage online. Authorities said that on several of his social media accounts, Young identified himself as an “incel,” also known as an “involuntary celibate.”
Young posted a video to social media recording himself following a woman through a parking garage while verbally harassing her. A separate incident in the same video showed Young approaching several women at a retail shopping center and asking them vulgar questions.
Police stated that Young has a history of harassing and stalking women near clubs, bars, and gyms.
“His routine or approach to women, he comes up to them and immediately starts asking them vulgar and obscene, explicit questions about their body parts,” Costa Mesa Police Department Lt. Ed Everett told KTLA.
Young faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
“No one should have to live in fear that they could be indiscriminately attacked and then publicly humiliated on the Internet because of their gender,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “This behavior is disgusting, and the celebration of this behavior by like-minded individuals is completely unacceptable. These charges send a very strong message to that entire community that we will not tolerate violence against women in any form.”