Zachary Coughlin had been seen around Isla Vista last year in a large bus that he had repainted and decorated with lights and mirrors and was said to have invited people inside when they were intrigued by its appearance. | Credit: Andrew Tesler (L) and Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office (R)

Zachary Coughlin — a k a the “mirror bus” man — was sentenced today to the maximum penalty of 20 years plus 125 years in state prison after a jury trial in July found him guilty of 14 counts of rape, including rape of an unconscious or intoxicated person, and related criminal offenses against multiple victims. Coughlin was arrested on May 18, 2020, after Isla Vistans reported he had assaulted women who visited his “mirror bus,” taking videos and photographs of the assaults, and that he lurked outside women’s homes, verbally insulting them.

District Attorney Joyce Dudley, calling Coughlin a cold-hearted sexual predator who sought out vulnerable women and brutally assaulted them sexually, stated his conviction was the result of investigators and victim advocates’ hard work and the courage of the survivors.


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