Serial rapist may lurk in NW D.C., police say

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - District of Columbia police believe a man may be prowling the streets of Northwest neighborhoods early in the morning, burglarizing homes and raping the women inside.

On Monday, noting a recent surge in the number of rapes and attempted rapes, police officials said many of the sex crimes are likely connected.

Police said they’re not sure that the latest incident, in which a Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s broke into a woman’s home on the 3300 block of 18th Street NW around 4 a.m. Thursday, raped her and then stole some of her belongings, is connected to three previous similar cases from earlier this year, but it might be.

But they’re almost certain the other three cases are linked.

In each case, the man, who was described as Hispanic or white and about 5 feet 10 inches tall — three inches taller than the man described Thursday — broke into homes in the early-morning hours and either raped or attempted to rape the women inside, police said.

In all four cases, it’s unknown how the suspect entered the homes, but what is clear is that the women did not know their attacker.

And that’s worrisome, rape experts said.

According to federal statistics, more than 80 percent of reported rapes are from women who know the rapist.

In many of those cases, the women could have been at a party, brought a friend home and had the situation take a turn for the worst, but when someone breaks into a home, “It’s very scary. The women who have been assaulted may no longer feel safe in their neighborhood or house,” said Alicia Gill, crisis service coordinator for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center.

Rapists, Gill said, often chose women who share their race and class, and rape is never about “sexual desire. It’s about power and control.”

Ronald M. Holmes and Stephen T. Homes, both expert criminal psychologists, write in their book “Profiling Violent Crime” that the most common “stranger rapist” is the “gentleman rapist,” a man who believes he has fallen in love with the victim, typically suffers from low self-esteem, has a limited high school education and works a menial job.

This man’s first crime will usually be within walking distance of his home and will happen after he’s spent time stalking his victims. He may believe that the victim is enjoying the rape, he speaks softly to her and is often the least violent of the four varieties of stranger rapists.

The “gentleman rapist” often attacks in seven- to 15-day intervals between midnight and 5 a.m. and may also take a keepsake that could appear as though a home has been burglarized — not a far cry from the rapist police are searching for in Northwest D.C.

The first report came May 16, the next was nine days later on May 25, which was followed by a month break until the culprit popped back up on June 26. Fourteen days later, just before 5 a.m. he may have been back at it.

With a man like that on the loose, it’s best to be proactive, the two Holmes men write. “Keep the windows and doors locked ... a dog doesn’t hurt either.”

fklopott@dcexaminer.com

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