Johnny Pride is under investigation by Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau.
A 26 year-old man running for Santa Clarita City Council arrested on suspicion of rape was released Saturday morning from custody, due to the District Attorney's office rejection of the case, pending further investigation.
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Johnny Pride was being held at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's station, after being arrested in suspicion of rape, lewd acts with a minor, sodomy, oral copulation of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The incidents involve two 14 year-old females.
In a release issued Saturday, Sgt. Dan Scott of the Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau said that the L. A. County District Attorney's office rejected the case due to insufficient evidence, pending further investigation.
"The investigation is ongoing, including further investigation into the processing of DNA evidence," said Scott. .
The Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau is conducting the investigation. The identity of the females is being withheld because they are juveniles.
Pride was being held on $500,000 bail and was due in court on Monday, March 8. He was released from custody around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Pride is one of 10 candidates running for Santa Clarita City Council. Prior to his run for public office, Pride appeared in a European-style bathing suit as a contestant on the short lived ABC game show "Conveyor Belt of Love."
According to The William S. Hart School District, Pride was employed for about one month in 2008 with the District. He served as a walk on coach for Canyon High and a substitute campus supervisor, although the District could not confirm whether or not he actually worked any hours as a campus supervisor.
