SAN DIEGO - Opening statements are scheduled Tuesday in the trial of a woman accused of taking part in the kidnapping, sexual assault and beating of a 21-year-old acquaintance left naked by the side of an East County freeway.

Catherine Renate McCoy, 48, is charged with assault, rape by a foreign object, kidnapping and making criminal threats in connection with the Aug. 18, 2011 attack. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

McCoy's co-defendant, 34-year-old Christopher Carrera, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 years and eight months behind bars and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

The victim testified last year that she was punched by McCoy and dragged to an SUV by McCoy and Carrera after returning to a friend's home near City Heights about 7:30 p.m. to gather her belongings. The woman said McCoy confronted her about sleeping with her boyfriend and threatened to slit her
throat.

The victim said Carrera, who she had met through a friend, told her that if she tried to escape from the car, "he'd beat the (expletive) out of me."

While in the back seat, McCoy beat her about the face with a metal flashlight and sexually assaulted her with a golf club when she said she had sex with McCoy's boyfriend, the witness testified.

Carrera stopped the vehicle near the interchange of state Routes 125 and 54 in Spring Valley, where he pulled the victim out of the SUV by her hair and dragged her over an embankment, punched her in the face and kicked her. The defendants then drove off, leaving the victim behind, according to prosecutors.

A passing motorist saw the victim around 8:30 p.m. when she emerged naked from the bushes and called for help. She had been beaten severely and was incoherent, authorities said.