Columbus, Ohio -- Detectives are frustrated by an alarming increase in serial rapists,even while the number of reported rapes fell 10 percent last year in the state capital.
Police have tentatively linked an unidentified man to five burglaries and three sexual assaults last month, which would make him the sixth serial rapist to hit the city last year, Sgt. Pat Foley said.
“One or two serial cases in a year would be a lot for us. We’re all frustrated that we can’t solve them,” he said.
Serial cases are defined as three or more sexual assaults committed by the same person.
Like other attackers, the man in the most recent incidents got into apartments through unlocked doors and windows. What makes him different is that he carried a black semiautomatic pistol and wore a mask or scarf, Foley said.
“Anytime you bring a firearm into it, especially an automatic, it could go off,” Foley said. “He has used the weapon to threaten the women.”
Fingerprint and DNA evidence is being compared with unsolved crimes to identify a suspect.
The most recent attacks occurred on the city’s north side.
Another rapist struck six times near Ohio State University last year while a man has committed 19 rapes since 1992 on the city’s east side. Those rapes have not been solved.
Three home-invasion rapes from August 2001 to June 2002 were linked to one man, who was never identified.
Two men have been charged as serial rapists. On July 3, police charged Vincent Williams, 37, with three rapes. Another suspect, Tavia Barklow, 29, was arrested in November on traffic warrants but released from jail before he was charged in three sexual assaults, including one involving a 14-year-old girl. He is a fugitive.
Detectives are encouraged by a new statewide DNA database, including samples taken from prison inmates, that could help them identify suspects.