On the Trails of Serial Rapists

The sadistic rapist wants to inflict emotional and physical pain and is aroused by his victim's suffering. "He's the predator of all predators when it comes to rapists," Hazelwood said. "He's the most meticulous." He may carry supplies--gloves, tape, rope--and have a location for his crime selected. According to Castillo, the FBI classification guide categorizes the sadist as usually in his 30s, middle-class and often college-educated.

The least frequently encountered types are the opportunistic rapist--for example, a burglar in a home who finds a woman there and suddenly decides to rape her--and the gang rapists, a group of three or more males who assault for each other's approval, according to Hazelwood.

A rapist is often caught after he makes mistakes, gets spotted or brags about his crimes. Sometimes, his downfall comes when a victim doesn't react as he expected. "I have one guy where the victim was 90 years old," Castillo said. "She had a Medic-Alert around her neck, she activated that, the paramedics came and chased him and caught him."

Hazelwood said it would be "close to impossible" to boil down into a few tips how to confront a rapist based on type. The victim might have only seconds to assess not only the rapist's type but also the location and her own strengths and weaknesses.

He does offer basic safety precautions: "If it doesn't look right or feel right, don't do it. Don't go home with strangers. Lock your windows and doors." Hazelwood notes that securing your home may discourage a power-reassurance rapist. "He's got a fantasy of a sexual relationship," Hazelwood said. "If he has to break a window or use a crowbar, that increases the possibility she's alerted and will resist, and that breaks his fantasy."

The rapist lurking in Hancock Park and Hollywood often knocked on doors and struck up conversation to gain admittance to houses. Or he sneaked into homes.

The suspect in those assaults, Gary David Johnson, was arrested last Thursday after a sharp-eyed volunteer for a nonprofit Jewish medical emergency group noticed a suspicious man talking on an intercom outside a residence in the Fairfax district. The volunteer, in his car, trailed the man and phoned two other volunteers who picked up the surveillance, watching the man walk around, order ice cream at a mini-mall and ring another doorbell. After consulting the police flier describing the Hancock Park rapist, the volunteers called the police on a cell phone.