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Serial Rape Suspect Used Internet as Part of Threat
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 29, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 29, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Some more details about the man suspected of raping women in NYC parks. Now police believe he is behind five rapes (yesterday he was linked to four): Two rapes occurred four years ago in Queens parks - a June 2003 rape in Baisley Pond Park and a August 2003 rape in Roy Wilkins Park. This year, police believe the attacker is behind three rapes - one in Prospect Park in April, a June 11 attack at Roy Wilkins Park, and a June 15 rape in Prospect Park.
And now the media is calling him the "Lover's Lane" rapist because of his MO. From WABC 7:
[Police] say the pattern is the same: the man targets couples in city parks, and then, saying he has gun or a knife, attacks the woman...
...The suspect stalks couples who are looking for a little private time, police say. He watches first, spying on them having intimate trysts inside public parks. The man is suspected in as many as five rapes since 2003. Police believe he waits until the amorous couples separate, follows the woman and then threatens her with harm or exposure.
Police Commissioner Kelly said, "He says to the victims that he may show photographs of them being involved with a male in the park, that he would make them public." The Daily News reports that in one attack, the the rapist claimed to have filmed the couple having sex in Prospect Park and that he would "release the tape on the Internet if [the victim] didn't go quietly with him." Police source said, "He told this woman he would spread these photos all over, ruin and embarrass her, and used that to force her to have sex with him. There was nothing consensual about it."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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