Press Release: Kansas Serial Rapist Investigation by Police, KCSDV Coalition Member Resources and Information

For Immediate Release: August 1, 2017

Media Contact:
Lucca Wang, Communications Coordinator
lwang@kcsdv.org
Office: 785-232-9784 Extension 335
Mobile: 785-633-6648

MANHATTAN, KS – On Thursday, July 27, 2017, the Riley County Police and the Lawrence Police Departments announced they are asking for tips and information from the public surrounding a 17 year-long investigation involving a serial rapist. The investigation strings together a series of 14 rape cases that occurred in 2000-2015 in Lawrence and Manhattan, Kansas. An anonymous donor has given $10,000 to the Riley County Police to be used as a reward for information leading to an arrest.

“Victims and survivors are more likely to work with law enforcement and proceed to conviction of the abuser when they work with an advocacy organization in addition to law enforcement,” Grover said. The Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV) map of advocacy organizations shows where KCSDV’s 27 coalition members are located across the state of Kansas with their names and contact information.

Although these cases were in Lawrence and Manhattan, victims could be anywhere in the state at this time, since people move. There could also be cases that have not yet been identified, and having a local resource for victims and survivors can be a huge help for those victims and survivors.

“This is an unusual case because of the amount of publicity this case has received, the duration of time between the first connected assault and the last, and because the rapist was apparently a stranger to all of the women,” said Joyce Grover Executive Director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV). She added, “85 percent of sexual assaults are inflicted upon victims by perpetrators who are known to the victim.”

According to the police departments, the assaults involved a masked intruder targeting college-age women, entering the victims’ off-campus residences, mostly between 2 – 4:30 a.m. when the victims slept, and threatening the victims with a handgun. A profile of the perpetrator is a 33 year-old, white man who is 5’10” – 6’0″ tall with a heavier set, most noticeably around the stomach and thighs. There are no known photographs or sketches of the assaulter.

The Riley County Police Department asks the public to give tips and information to the Riley County Police Department about this investigation by calling the Riley County Police Department’s dispatch at 785-537-2112 and by texting tips and information to “CRIMES” (274637) starting the body of the message with “TIP353”. For more information, visit the Riley County Police Department’s special Crime Stoppers website at www.kansascollegerapist.com. The 24-hour Kansas Crisis Hotline is 888-END-ABUSE (888-363-2287).

“In order to end sexual violence, communities have to come together to respond,” said Grover. “By putting out this information about resources and support, we want to encourage communities to come together for victims to respond as bystanders, holding perpetrators accountable for their actions instead of blaming victims.”

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