Hey, Can A Woman "Ask To Get Raped"?

Serial rapist cases in Lawrence, Manhattan still unsolved 10 years after first attack
November 12, 2010

During fall 2000 — when Kansas State University students were on break from classes — a man raped a woman at a Manhattan apartment.

The apartment complex, University Commons Apartments, was a short distance from campus.

The attack that occurred there that night was the first in what local and state authorities believe is a string of 13 more rapes. The attacker, authorities say, has committed at least eight rapes in Manhattan and another six in Lawrence.

The targets are all the same: young women. Many of the rapes occurred in apartments or in houses that are near KSU or Kansas University campuses.

This serial rapist last attacked nearly two years ago. And, it seems, awareness of this danger among young women who live in the college towns is fading. Local and state law enforcement officials will say little about the rapist or his attacks. And they remain tight-lipped about any progress they’re making in finding the man. Meanwhile, experts say there’s a strong possibility that the man known simply as “the serial rapist” may never be caught.

Kansas University junior Chelsea Linden hadn’t heard about the serial rapist when she first came to KU in 2008.

But following the last known crime — a Dec. 1, 2008, rape of a Lawrence woman — Linden learned some of the general details of the case: the rapist strikes late at night during some kind of college break, targets college-age women and stalks his victims before the attack.

Nearly two years later, however, awareness of the case has decreased among her circle of friends.

“I wouldn’t say it hits our radar too often,” said Linden, who lives with four other women near campus.

And with a cyclical college population, some incoming freshman may never have heard about the case, said Kathy Rose-Mockry, director of KU’s Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center.

“Our population changes every year. I’m sure there are students who aren’t aware,” she said.

It’s a dynamic that could erase all the education police and advocates provided just several years ago, said Mary Todd, a clinical psychologist and director of the K-State Women’s Center.

“I am concerned that as time goes by you don’t hear of a big scary crime and people start to let their guard down,” she said.

While the case details can cause some discomfort, it’s important to keep the case current in the minds of young women, Rose-Mockry said.

School breaks bring the seemingly obligatory warnings from campus and local authorities, as all of the crimes associated with the serial rapist have occurred during some school break — winter, spring, Thanksgiving, or summer break. It’s important to be vigilant, officials say.

Lock your doors, as police believe the rapist entered through unlocked windows or doors.

Be aware of your surroundings, as police warn that the rapist “stalked” his victims prior to the attack.

While the warnings may seem like common-sense advice, Todd says acting on each one adds up.

“The more items that you add to lessen your risk, the less your chances” of being a victim are, she said.

If police have made any progress in the case, they’re not talking about it, nor are they releasing details about even some of the basics of the cases — such as the general location, weapon used or ages of the victims.

Spokesmen for both the Lawrence Police and Riley County Police referred all questions about the case to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, which is now coordinating the investigation with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Requests for further information, as well as a request for an interview to discuss progress on the case, were declined by the AG’s office.

“There’s nothing new,” said Gavin Young, communications director for the AG’s office.

Despite a lack of details, experts in the field of serial rape say there are some inferences they can make about the suspect and what police are doing to catch him.

Janet Warren, a professor at the University of Virginia who has consulted for the FBI and other law enforcement on cases of serial rape and murder, said a first step in the process is creating a criminal profile based on what police know from each crime scene.

“It’s like creating a videotape in your mind of what exactly would happen,” said Warren of the process she goes through when investigating cases.

Warren provided some basic details about whom she would suspect in the case: a socially awkward person who experienced a rough childhood, lived near the scene of the first crimes and who has probably been involved with the criminal justice system before.

“I just think he was a young guy who thought these were hot, young women and he got away with it and liked doing it,” she said.

After committing the first three rapes at the same apartment complex, and the first five crimes, in Manhattan, the rapist moved his crimes to Lawrence in 2004 — a move that Warren said likely was to avoid detection. The move also is evidence that the young offender was maturing and becoming more sophisticated in his crimes, she said.

Stephen Thompson, a Michigan-based criminal investigation consultant who works with law enforcement agencies across the country developing profiles of sex offenders, said as a predator’s skills improve, it becomes increasingly difficult for police to catch him.

“There’s just not enough there,” said Thompson of cases like these where an offender is patient and smart about his crimes.

And with any sex crime, a first question people have is why police haven’t caught the rapist using DNA evidence.

Police have never said whether such evidence has been collected at the scenes, and Thompson said some criminals have learned ways to remove such evidence. There’s also the chance that even if there is DNA evidence, the suspect might not be in an offender database. He’s been lucky, and careful, Thompson said.

“He’s consistently not making mistakes.”

After a decade, that’s not likely to change, he said.

The odds of catching this rapist are “probably pretty slim,” he said. “My sense is that it may never be closed.”

After a two-year lull in the crimes, there are a number of reasons why the crimes stopped and it’s possible the man may never rape again in this area, Warren said.

“He may have moved to another part of the country. He may have been incarcerated. He may have gotten sick,” she said.

None of the victims could be reached for an interview, but Todd, who has counseled several of those women, said that as years pass, hopes fade that the rapist will ever be caught.

“One of his victims tells me that she prays he will turn himself in,” she said.

Despite the trauma, Todd says the victims she’s still in touch with — who now live in communities across the country — have worked through the experience and become stronger women.

“They’re so full of life. They live full lives,” she said. However, “that came out of therapy, of pain, of families that were shaken to their very core.”

The unsolved nature of the crimes will remain a final barrier in the healing process, she said.

For the victims, catching the offender is “the best thing that could happen to them,” she said. “It’s impossible to have complete closure while the person who assaulted you is still out there.”
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/nov/12/serial-rapist-cases-lawrence-manhattan-still-unsol/

I have often wondered just how much the TV shows about forensics actually can help criminals. They explain how people are caught so I am guessing it is possible that criminals could learn how not to get caught from these shows.

Isn't it something though? We become so comfortable in our own environment that those "common sense" precautions are not even thought of at times?

Scott Eby: From petty thief to child rapist and murderer
BY BRIAN STANLEY
Nov 13, 2010

SUMNER — The FBI agents walked in and told the prisoner exactly why he’d been let out of his cell that morning.

“We’re here to talk about Riley Fox,” they said.

Scott Eby “almost immediately” said he wanted to see a lawyer and repeated that statement as they tried to further the conversation.

Disappointed, but legally bound by the exercise of his constitutional rights, the agents walked out of the interview room and into a corridor of the Lawrence Correctional Center.

A minute passed. Eby looked down at the microphone on the table in front of him.

“OK. I’ll talk,” he said.

Other investigators made a mad scramble to get the FBI agents back in the room.

Eby’s run-ins with the law

Scott Wayne Eby was born July 21, 1971. His criminal career began three days before Christmas 1988 when he walked into an Old Second Bank branch in North Aurora.

Eby, who was living in an apartment on Old Indian Trail in Aurora, attempted to cash a check made out to him that day for $125. The teller noticed the signature on the check did not match the bank’s signature card and Eby was detained until police arrived.

“This (will be) the defendant’s first trip to the Department of Corrections and his first problems with the law,” an assistant Kane County state’s attorney wrote.

In exchange for pleading guilty on March 2, 1989, an unrelated attempted residential burglary charge was dismissed.

Eby was sentenced to two years in prison.

Upon release, Eby continued his burglary career. He was caught breaking into a residence in September 1993 in Cook County while awaiting trial from another burglary arrest the previous year.

Sentenced to respective four- and three-year terms, he was still released early.

On March 28, 1997, a woman drove her 1986 Saab 9000 to a Citgo on Main Street in Lisle and went inside to pay for gas.

Eby opened the driver’s door and stole a backpack that was on the front seat. He ran behind some buildings, but was recognized by a witness.

Court records show Eby had been staying on Tallman Avenue in Romeoville and in Ronks, Pa., a small farming community with a prominent Amish population, around this time.

Wherever he was living, Eby skipped a court date that August and ducked an arrest warrant for nearly three years.

He was caught in Florida, where sources said he spent time in a mental institution and underwent the brain surgery that has left a large scar on his forehead. Eby was extradited back in August 2000 and pleaded guilty in exchange for seven years in prison.

While Eby was finishing his stretch in the Danville Correctional Center he bought a new pair of shoes. He wrote his last name on the tongues in permanent marker because he was worried his property would be stolen by thieves.

“Eby has an extensive criminal history. This defendant does not deserve any consideration for early release,” an assistant DuPage County state’s attorney told the court.

But Eby was paroled in 2003 and living with relatives on East Street in Wilmington on June 6, 2004.

Drug-fueled crime spree

Eby had been drinking a lot of alcohol and using cocaine when he drove to Outer Drive in the early morning hours. He cut the screen door of an elderly woman’s house and took $40 from her purse on the kitchen table.

A few houses away, he saw the back door was open and walked into the laundry room.

During his interview with FBI, Eby said he looked in to see Kevin Fox passed out in a bedroom and was about to walk out the front door when he saw 3-year-old Riley and her 7-year-old brother, Tyler, sleeping on couches in the living room.

Eby told agents he had never had sexual contact with children before, but he felt “compelled to take her.”

The petty burglar walked back to his car, backed into the driveway, opened the trunk and put a bandana over his face so the girl wouldn’t be able to describe him.

Covering her mouth with his hand, Eby put the 3-year-old in his trunk and drove 2 miles to Forsythe Woods. “He carried her down the hill and into the wooded area over the wooden bridge where he duct taped her wrists and mouth,” court reports said. His DNA would later be found on that duct tape.

Eby took Riley to the men’s room where he laid her on the floor. The weather was “stifling hot” and he began to sweat from stress and exertion.

Eby reportedly told the FBI he was attempting to arouse himself in order to rape the girl when his bandana fell off his face and he “freaked out.”

“He looked down and stated that Riley Fox was staring at his face. Eby said he panicked because he believed he would probably be going to prison for the rest of his life,” his plea agreement said.

Eby picked up his victim and climbed down a muddy hill to Forked Creek where he held her under the water by her shoulders until she stopped struggling.

“She floated to the surface, face down, and the current carried her down the creek,” the plea agreement said.

The killer worried his muddy shoes would leave footprints, so he threw them in the creek. He took off his clothes as well, but put them back in his car. Eby took a bottle of motor oil and poured it in the men’s room to ruin any physical evidence.

As Eby left the forest preserve he thought he was seen by a woman looking out from a nearby house, but he figured the only thing he could do about it was drive home and hope he’d gotten away with murder. He wasn’t optimistic. He remembered his name was written in the shoes he’d thrown in the creek — “a mistake,” he reportedly told the FBI.

Eby returned home and started drinking again. He was passed out as Tyler Fox woke up to see his sister was gone and went to tell his father.

Police question Eby only once

Wilmington police went door to door searching for the missing girl. Eby threw up when they asked if he knew anything, but the heavy odor of alcohol coming from him bolstered his claim that he wasn’t feeling well. He stayed in his room for the rest of the day while Riley’s body was found and Will County Sheriff’s police began a murder investigation that pointed to her father as the culprit.

Eby was not questioned again.

An evidence technician recovered Eby’s shoes and stored them away with other junk collected from the creek.

Eby was discharged from parole for his third burglary conviction three months after Riley’s murder.

Riley’s father wrongfully arrested

Eby told the FBI he “felt bad” when Kevin Fox was arrested, but he later learned “he got money out of it (and was) glad for that.”

Fox was interrogated by detectives throughout the night of Oct. 26, 2004, and gave a videotaped confession the next morning, saying he had accidentally struck his daughter with the bathroom doorknob and tried to make it look like a sexual assault and kidnapping when he thought she was dead.

Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty against Fox, who immediately filed a civil suit against sheriff’s detectives for coercing a confession from him.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow allowed his attorneys to arrange for DNA testing of the duct tape that had been used to bind his daughter.

When those results excluded Kevin Fox in June 2005, he was released after spending eight months in the county jail.

Glasgow had an investigator assigned to his office review the case, but the civil lawsuit essentially froze the investigation.

“With (Fox’s) confession, the small window of opportunity and lack of similar crimes in the area, there was a lot of speculation how the DNA could’ve somehow been incorrect,” a source said.

The lawsuit was heard during a two-month trial at the end of 2007. After appeals and settlements were processed, Kevin Fox and his wife, Melissa, were awarded approximately $11 million.

Sexual assault of relative

In the months after Riley Fox’s murder, Scott Eby’s behavior had become increasingly erratic and his alcohol and drug abuse continued.

It appears he expected to be caught soon after authorities released Kevin Fox.

Eby came home drunk on the morning of July 31, 2005. He confronted his brother-in-law about “being a man” before passing out on the couch. A few hours later, he went into the room of an adult female relative and forced her to have sex with him for about 30 minutes.

“He covered my mouth and started having intercourse with me,” the victim told a nurse at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center. He told her “this is the last piece of (expletive) I’ll get before I go to the penitentiary.”

The victim said she was getting sick and had to go to the bathroom, but fled out the front door and ran toward the police station, stopping at a nearby funeral home to call 911.

Wilmington police arrested Eby later that day.

During a bench trial in December 2005, Eby was found guilty on two counts of sexual assault. Unrelated DUI and traffic charges were dropped when he was convicted.

Eby’s victim asked for the judge to give him probation.

“I believe the six months that he has been in jail is enough time,” she wrote. “He was suppose (sic) to be seeking mental help but was not … also taking medication.”

“I believe he deserves a second chance in life. Also he will lead a more productive life on the outside,” she wrote.

Eby was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Initially sent to the Dixon Correctional Center then back to Danville, Eby ended up at Lawrence Correctional Center in Sumner, 218 miles south of Wilmington.

FBI tracks down Eby

After the Fox’s civil lawsuit was heard, Glasgow “spearheaded discussions with the FBI regarding its assistance in the investigation … in early 2008,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.

In June 2009, five years after Riley Fox was murdered, FBI agents canvassed Wilmington again and were tipped to look at Eby as a suspect.

“He believed his mother and a former girlfriend had suspicions he’d been involved,” an investigator said.

The agents went to interview Eby in prison in May. Besides confessing, the convicted felon provided more DNA samples to match with the duct tape from the girl’s body.

With good behavior, Eby will finish his serving time for the rape of his relative in June 2017.

That’s when he’ll immediately start serving six life sentences for raping and murdering Riley Fox.
http://plainfieldsun.suntimes.com/news/2352450-418/eby-fox-riley-county-fbi.html

You really only know that allegation is false if the complainant has admitted to lying

cross-examination reveals significant inconsistencies

if no sex actually took place.

But, the topic of this thread is not false allegations--it is the crime of rape.

How many men falsely allege that an actual rape was consensual sex?

hawkeye10 wrote:

Bullshit, they want to be manhandled

How do u know this ?





David

It quite clearly showed that there are 7 states where its considered rape if the man doesnt pull out fast enough if she changes her mind DURING consensual sex.

Austin, 53, is openly speaking out about his victimization, a part of a healing process that's only recently begun.

I think it must be even more difficult for men to admit that they have been raped.

I have often wondered just how much the TV shows about forensics actually can help criminals.

I am more cognizant of my surroundings when I am away from home now because of this thread.

Most rapes are against men

That statement, which you keep repeating, is not true. Cite statistics from a reputable source to back it up.

Most rapists are men. Numerous sources for that fact have already been cited in this thread.

All the men I know receive constant screenings for types of cancers that are more common in men. They haven't had to demand anything, their doctors do these things routinely. The same is true for women, routine screenings are advised and given by their doctors.

In terms of the topic of this thread, women and men have both demanded the protection of law against being sexually assaulted and raped. They demanded it from legislators.

In terms of the topic of this thread, women and men have both demanded the protection of law against being sexually assaulted and raped. They demanded it from legislators.

And most victims are men. Add up all the rapes in prison. How many a day per inmate multiplied by the number of inmates in the country. Add up all the children who are male and are raped. Now add up all the women and female children who are raped.

Anthony Westbury: Rape is never the victim's fault
By Anthony Westbury
Saturday, November 13, 2010

Until someone pointed them out recently, I hadn’t been aware of two billboards on U.S. 1, north of Fort Pierce.

In red, white and purple letters, they contain the following message:

“Sex without consent is RAPE. Talk About It, Prevent It!”

Rape is a very big deal in Florida.

A landmark 2003 report by Kenneth Ruggiero and Dean Kilpatrick for the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center said one in nine women in Florida experience rape at some time in their lifetime.

That equates to more than 700,000 women who’ve been scarred by sexual violence. Other research reveals that 60 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18.

A big part of the problem with rape, as the billboards imply, is that people — victims especially — don’t want to talk about it.

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, back that up.

It’s estimated that fewer than one in six rapes is ever reported. In many cases, it’s a silent crime aided and abetted by a long string of socioeconomic factors including poverty, access to drugs and alcohol, or a community/family tolerance of violent sexual behavior.

So, yes, we do need to talk about it, bring it out into the open.

The billboards — which have been in place for about 18 months — are one visible portion of the Florida Department of Health’s sexual violence prevention program. The department’s campaign began about seven years ago, according to program administrator Jan Davis, and uses education, prevention, TV and radio spots, print media and billboards to get the message across.

It focuses on the 12-24 age group, and uses a number of posters to take aim at lifestyle choices and situations to avoid.

“Alcohol is the most common substance used in drug-assisted rape” reads one poster.

The program also helps fund rape crisis centers that offer services to victims of sexual violence. Their services include crisis intervention, information and referral, counseling, medical and/or forensic intervention and therapy.

Most crisis centers have a 24/7 crisis hotline.

Locally, the rape crisis center for the Treasure Coast can be reached by calling the hotline at (866) 828-7273.

“The idea of the billboards is to give information and to give people access to the help they need,“ said Harriette Rowe Hill, the local rape crisis center director.

“The rape hotline is available for anyone with an issue related to sexual violence,” she added. “It may even have happened, say, 10 years ago and someone just wants to talk about it now.

“It’s important to note that they are not calling law enforcement; sometimes people are hesitant because of that. We get calls from parents, friends, teachers, as well as victims themselves. Anyone who wants information.”

The state’s program also publishes a sexual violence survival guide that explains exactly how to report rape or other sexual offenses.

The guide speaks in very reassuring tones, explaining what to expect at every step in the process and what a victim may encounter or be feeling.

Perhaps the most important message to rape victims is repeated over and over like a mantra:

“Remember, rape is never your fault.”

As Davis said, “rape is a very under-reported crime.”

So it’s certainly something we need to talk about. It’s something we cannot tolerate or condone. It needs to be brought out in the open.

Anthony Westbury is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/nov/13/anthony-westbury-rape-is-never-the-victims-fault/

I am more cognizant of my surroundings when I am away from home now because of this thread.

Then you have also been danaged by rape.

Society is also taking some hard hits.
How many people now are far more cautious when it comes to their kids ? Is fear a good thing ?