On the Trails of Serial Rapists

The Long Beach rapist has frustrated police there for half a decade. Police can trace his crimes back to 1996 in Seattle. His first reported attack in Long Beach was in January 1997. Police know that over the last six years, he has raped 11 times, choosing victims ranging in age from 32 to 80. Most of those crimes were committed in the Long Beach area but others were in Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach. Two of those rapes occurred this year, in May and August.

Police contend he has also tried unsuccessfully to rape three women this year. Two of his attempts came barely more than 24 hours apart--late on Aug. 13 and early in the morning Aug. 15.

"Assuming this is the same guy that we're connecting to the 11, it's very unique that the same person might strike twice in 24 hours," said Long Beach Police Sgt. Paul LeBaron. "Due to the fact that that hasn't happened in the past [with this criminal], that concerns us."

Since the rapist usually strikes during darkness and either covers his own face or that of his victims, no one knows his ethnic background, much less the details of what he looks like.

"You seem to have a person who's doing his research," LeBaron said. "And it makes it difficult to find him." Two years ago, amid much publicity, Long Beach police arrested a man on suspicion of the rapes attributed to the Long Beach rapist but eventually cleared him of those assaults through DNA evidence.

Last Thursday morning, when the serial rapist is believed to have attacked again in Long Beach, his face was covered but he was nude and his would-be victim scratched his chest and possibly his face and arms.

Detectives on the task force searching for the rapist declined to comment for this story, but last Thursday, Beardslee, the head of the task force, held a news conference urging people to scrutinize every man they know for fresh scratches.

"Someone has been in contact with him," LeBaron said. "If anybody sees a person who has scratch marks, who has changed his normal routine, they should consider that suspicious and notify the police."

Attacking in Daylight

The rapist operating in Torrance is a black man whose age has been described as anywhere from early 20s to late 30s. He has attacked in broad daylight, forcing his victims, with a gun, into a silver-colored car. He has yet to strike any of his victims.

"All the assaults have occurred within the vehicle," said Sean Tanabe, the lead detective on the case.

Torrance police are still awaiting final results of the rape examinations done on the victims.

"We're hoping to find some DNA. But nothing has been completed," Tanabe said. "And without a vehicle license plate, that makes it harder to solve cases like this.

"But they can be solved. It takes a lot of help from the public--and they've been doing a tremendous job. We've received 600, 700 calls from people who think they saw the car or the guy."

People with information about the Torrance rapist can call police at (310) 328-3456 or (310) 618-5586. To report information regarding the Long Beach rapist, the hotline number is (866) 600-1110.