Serial rapist

Law enforcement

Many times, the evidence that is collected from the physical examinations and testimony of those who were raped is in the possession of numerous law enforcement agencies and may impede the recognition that the rapist has committed the crime over a period of time. Conviction of the rapist can be delayed when victims do not cooperate in the investigation. | access-date = 2016-07-19 Evidence can consist of DNA, saliva and fingerprints, hair, vaginal swabs, fingernail scrapings, and bed linens. | access-date = 2016-07-19 Those investigating serial rapes often identify the rapist with a "nickname" before an arrest is made by characterizing the tactics or patterns of the rapes. | access-date = 2016-07-21 |first=Vicki |last= Haddock

Serial rapists are more likely to be convicted than a rapist who is known by the victim. Unlike those convicted for a single case of rape, serial rapists often go unrecognized due to the slow process of analyzing the backlog of rape kits. It may take many years for a past rape to be identified as being committed by one person.

Case Western Reserve University has identified the tendency of sexual offenders of being previously arrested. 26% had previously been arrested for sexual assault. 60% were arrested for at least one other sexual assault unrelated to the first one.

Tactics

A serial rapist can use online dating sites to identify potential victims. Threatening harm to the victim and their family is another tactic used.{{cite web | title = Serial Rapist Who Preyed On Teenage Girls Sentenced Up to 196 Years in Prison | publisher= NBC 10, Philadelphia

Personality traits

Perpetrators can be described as "highly manipulative, very charismatic and charming." Serial rapists differ from single-victim rapists. The distance traveled before the rape occurs was found to be further with the single-victim rapists. Single-victim rapists use a "capture" method, sometimes using the tactic of being a hitch hiker, or a "con" method by meeting at a bar or party and engaging in social interaction. Conversely, serial rapists have a tendency to ambush or use a "blitz" approach of a victim. A serial rapist is more likely to target a stranger than a single-victim rapist.

A serial rapist is more prone to exhibit "criminally sophisticated behaviors" such as using a condom and gloves. Serial rapists are more likely to control physical resistance by gagging, binding, blindfolding, and smothering. They are more likely to question the victim. Awareness of investigative, forensic methodology characterizes a serial rapist rather than a single-victim rapist and may be used by law enforcement as an investigative aid.

Serial rapists are more likely to target sex workers than are single-victim rapists. They have also been described as being able to improve their ability and expertise to commit their assault through the "study" of serial rape. This includes rehearsal by viewing films, pornography, and reading relevant literature, using sexual fantasies, growth in knowledge in assault-related skills, learning from the examples of other serial rapists, and their own past experiences of physical or sexual abuse.

Prevention

Investigation of the offender instead of the crime has been proposed to prevent serial rapes. The backlog of analyzing rape kits impedes the identification of serial rapists. Hundreds of thousands of rape kits remain untested across the US. Most law enforcement agencies do not track or count them. The process is complicated, invasive, time-consuming and may re-traumatize victims.

The FBI maintains a DNA database and comparisons between cases can be made. Unfortunately, the backlog of analyzing rape kits can allow the perpetrator to continue their crime before being identified with other assaults.

References

References

1. Perrusquia, Marc. (21 March 2014). "CA Investigation: Failure to test DNA let Cordova serial rapist continue attacks for decade". The Commercial Appeal, US Today Network.
2. "New York Serial Rapist". Unsolved Mysteries.
3. "Northern Minnesota Serial Child Rapist Sentenced to Life in Prison". KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul.
4. (2016-11-24). "Pittsburgh Police Arrest Accused Serial Rapist". CBS Pittsburgh.
5. (20 May 2016). "Three attacks on West Side said to be linked to trio of serial rapists". The Columbus Dispatch.
6. James L. LeBeau, [http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6556&context=jclc Patterns of Stranger and Serial Rape Offending: Factors Distinguishing Apprehended and at Large Offenders], ''[[Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology]]'', Vol. 78, Issue 2 (Summer 1987).
7. Rothkopf, Joanna. "Analysis of Untested Rape Kits Reveals Serial Rapists Are 'Far More Common' Than We Thought".
8. Egan, Paul. (2 September 2015). "With most rape kits tested, focus turns to prosecutions". Detroit Free Press.
9. (26 May 2017). "Serial rapist in Ohio prison linked to cold case in Richmond".
10. Lea Winerman. (July–August 2004). "Psychological sleuths--Criminal profiling: the reality behind the myth".
11. (14 July 2016). "Florence Police: Serial rapist behind bars". waaytv.com.
12. (2015-01-20). "Confessions Of A Serial Rapist". Thought Catalog.
13. (2012). "From Crime Scene Actions in Stranger Rape to Prediction of Rapist Type: Single-Victim or Serial Rapist?". Behavioral Sciences & the Law.
14. (2014). "A Snapshot of Serial Rape: An Investigation of Criminal Sophistication and Use of Force on Victim Injury and Severity of the Assault". Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
15. (2014). "Can Serial Rapists be Distinguished from One-off Rapists?". Behavioral Sciences & the Law.
16. (February 2002). "Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists". Violence and Victims.
17. (2015). "Experts in rape: Evaluating the evidence for a novice-to-expert continuum in the offense behavior and cognition of sexual offenders". Aggression and Violent Behavior.