While four serial rapists have been suspected in the past month of committing at least 20 rapes in Los Angeles County, investigators and counselors are divided about whether these serial attacks should be attributed to an alarming new trend or to a mere statistical coincidence.
What is certain is that the cases, which brought fear to neighborhoods from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles, have focused attention on a crime that apparently is becoming more common in Southern California and, in its execution, more violent.
For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday October 10, 1990 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Column 5 Metro Desk 3 inches; 80 words Type of Material: Correction
Sexual assaults--In Tuesday's editions, the Times incorrectly identified a series of crimes in Santa Monica as sexual assaults. The suspect, who remains at large, is actually a flasher who has exposed himself to victims during at least eight residential robberies since mid-June, Santa Monica Police Sgt. Bill Brucker said. Police said the man poses as a window washer or utility company worker to gain entrance to homes. He is described as a black in his 30s, 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall, with a stocky build and short hair, who typically wears work clothes or casual clothes.
State figures show that rape was up 7.6% in California during the first half of the year, and up 6.3% in selected portions of Southern California, even before the widely publicized cases. The numbers reflect a reversal of a downward trend of nearly a decade.
Two of the four serial cases have resulted in arrests: Willie Damone Taylor, 28, of South-Central Los Angeles was charged last week with raping three USC students, and Joseph Brian Socha, 29, of Rancho Palos Verdes was charged days later in connection with separate attacks on four women in Long Beach and San Pedro. Two of the Long Beach victims told police their hair was cut off with a knife and inverted crosses were carved on their backs.
Meanwhile, manhunts are under way for two other suspected serial rapists, one in Hollywood and West Los Angeles and the other in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles rapist is believed to be responsible for nine attacks over a five-month span, all against elderly women, police said. One victim was 88 years old.
The Santa Monica attacker--who poses as a window washer or gas company repairman--is believed to have committed three sexual assaults in a single night this month and may be responsible for as many as 10 previous rapes, police said.
Whether the spate of serial crimes means that more rapists are assaulting more than one victim is a matter of disagreement among experts in Southern California. Some police investigators say the four recent cases may reflect coincidence and an unusual amount of media attention. Others, however, argue that serial rapes are becoming more common, reflecting the general rise in street crime, homelessness and gang violence.
"In my opinion, there seem to be more (serial rapists)," said Detective Frank Stastny, a sexual assault investigator for the Santa Ana Police Department. In Santa Ana, six serial rapists have been accused of at least 25 rapes in the last two years--a substantial number in a city that investigates 70 or 75 reported rapes a year.
