Rape

A former night supervisor at a mental health facility has pleaded no contest to raping a severely autistic woman who got pregnant during the assault. Darren Boyer Thomas, 39, entered the pleas Tuesday to rape and committing great bodily injury by impregnating the 27-year-old woman in December 2003. Thomas, who is free on $60,000 bail, faces a mandatory prison term of six to 11 years.

* Susan Brownmiller: The grande dame of rape politics who helped spur legal reform in the '70s with her 1975 landmark book: "Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape." * Susan Estrich: USC law professor, erstwhile campaign manager for Michael Dukakis and author of the 1987 book, "Real Rape," which examined the law's historic distinction between "real rape" perpetrated by an armed stranger and "not real rape" committed by an acquaintance.

In tearful testimony during a trial involving four U.S. Marines, a Philippine woman identified the serviceman who allegedly raped her. The 22-year-old woman said she was attacked Nov. 1 by Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith as Lance Cpls. Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier cheered him on. The rape charges are punishable by up to 40 years in prison, and the judge has entered not-guilty pleas for the four. Defense lawyers say Smith had consensual sex with the woman.

Uganda's High Court cleared opposition leader Kizza Besigye of rape charges, saying the prosecution failed dismally to prove its case. Besigye and his lawyers had argued that the government fabricated the charge in an attempt to keep him from challenging President Yoweri Museveni in February's election. Museveni, who has held power for more than 20 years, won a new term, and Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change has pledged to challenge the result in court.

The daughter of the owner of Korbel Champagne Cellars and her boyfriend have been arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault at the winery, authorities said Monday. Richie Ann Anderson, 39, and Christopher Samii, 31, both of Guerneville, were arrested Friday on suspicion of rape and oral copulation, authorities said. Two employees of the Korbel Delicatessen accused the couple of beating and sexually assaulting them after work.

It was a noisy rally and that's how the students wanted it. Marching and carrying signs Thursday at Monroe High School, they shouted, "Is there ever an invitation to rape? No." Many motorists on Nordhoff Street honked in support. About 80 students and rape crisis center advocates gathered to draw attention to what they say is a lack of sufficient rape prevention education at schools. The demonstration was triggered by the Dec.

Newport Beach police are investigating allegations from a 33-year-old woman who said she was raped while jogging Monday night in Corona del Mar. The Newport Beach resident told police she was raped at knifepoint shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday near Bayside Drive and Carnation Avenue, said Sgt. Steve Shulman.

The quarterback of the U.S. Naval Academy's football team has been charged with raping a female midshipman in her dormitory room. Lamar Owens, a 22-year-old senior from Savannah, Ga., was charged under the military code of justice because the alleged attack took place at the academy, spokesman Cmdr. Rod Gibbons said in Annapolis.

The arraignment for Mark Wayne Rathbun, suspected by police of being the Belmont Shore serial rapist, was postponed Wednesday until Dec. 4. The 32-year-old Rathbun, wearing an orange jail uniform, looked at the floor during the short proceeding. He softly answered, "Yes, your honor," when he was asked if he agreed to give up his right to a speedy trial.

The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a polygamist charged with child rape for having sex with his first wife when she was 13. Tom Green, 56, had lived with his five wives and 31 children in a cluster of trailer homes in the remote desert about 125 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.