Results tagged “rape”

Thousands of rape kits still remain untested, finds a follow-up to a year-old audit that revealed some 7,500 rape kits sat untested on the shelves of LAPD labs. City Controller Wendy Greuel plans to release the the full findings tomorrow morning. Her office said today that the backlog has been reduced to 65%. However, Greuel says the Department’s record keeping is inconsistent, making it difficult to give entirely accurate numbers. In early October, it was reported that 3,157 kits were left to go with the full backlog completion due in the summer of 2011.

Yesterday, Swiss officials refused to grant a bail request for the release of notorious film director Roman Polanski, who has been detained there since late last month following his arrest in Zurich on a thirty-year-old warrant from Los Angeles County. Feeling the flee-friendly and famed French citizen was a flight-risk, the Swiss are not bowing to pressure from members of foreign governments or cinema power-players to let the septuagenarian go.

After an attempted sexual assault on a young women this week, detectives quickly arrested a suspect and released his photo to the public, believing more teenaged women were victimized by the same man. It was just past 1 a.m. on Monday when a female, possibly a minor, was walking on Melrose Avenue near Alta Vista Boulevard. Police say Christopher Webb, 22, walked up, engaging her in conversation. He then allegedly pulled her into an alley where he attempted to rape her, but numerous calls to police prompted a swift response by police, whose lights and sirens spooked Webb.

Director Roman Polanski remains confined in a Swiss prison following his arrest this weekend while traveling to Zurich to receive a prestigious award for his film career. The 76-year-old Polish-born French citizen has been in exile in Europe since fleeing Los Angeles following his conviction in the rape case that found him guilty of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Andrew Adelman, Manager of the Department of Building and Safety for Los Angeles, is currently under investigation for an alleged rape back in July. The LAPD is mum, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reportedly sent a stern message placing him on administrative leaving. The LAPD confirms that an investigation does involve a city employee but does not name anyone. "Because of the serious nature of the allegation and for reasons of confidentiality, no names will be released," a police statement read.

When the LA Weekly broke the news about the still-out-there "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, who would rape and murder victims in South LA, one detective had an idea. What if the matching DNA from the crime scenes was of a registered sex offender who had not yet been swabbed? Of the 1,500 local sex offenders that matched the Grim Sleeper's description, 92 of them did not have DNA on file. So police began collecting DNA samples and one of those samples matched a number of crimes, but not the Grim Sleepers, another one, possibly the Westside Rapist:

Abram Bynum, 35, was killed by Columbus Police officers yesterday in Ohio at the end of a high-speed chase on Interstate 70. Before moving to Columbus, Bynum lived in the Antelope Valley and is accused of five rapes that happened between 2004 and 2007, according to the LA Times.

It's the highest reward ever set by the LA City Council--over a half million dollars--and today it was renewed. The long-standing mysterious "Grim Sleeper" serial killer has alluded police for over 20 years. It was only recently that police knew they were looking for the same man in a handful of cases.

Did you watch Southland on NBC last night? Only four shows in and it looks like they'll be green lit for season two already. Last night's episode was extremely interesting, literally ripping topics from the headlines just months old:

The big news today about a serial killer wasn't the alleged identity of the Zodiac Killer or anything about the possibly-still-on-the-loose Grim Sleeper, but of the Southland Strangler, also known as the Westside Rapist, who would target elderly women, raped and kill them in the 70s and 80s. He was arrested last month and could be responsible for up to 30 murders.

A 72-year-old man suspected of raping and killing at least 30 women was arrested last month for the killing of one woman who was part of a serial spree that lasted around 15 years. John F. Thomas was matched to an old case via DNA after police began swabbing registered sex offenders. Thomas, who went to prison in 1978 for a rape in Pasadena, had two waves of rape-killings. The first was on the Westside before he was caught. After serving time, he moved to Chino and another wave began in Claremont. Through all this, Thomas was never connected or suspected by police, despite leaving 20 survivors. After he was arrested, more DNA results came in connecting him to four other deaths. Thomas would prey on older woman living alone. He would rape and strangle them and leave a pillow or blanket over their faces.

LA Weekly's Christine Pelisek, who broke the story about LA's very own serial killer, the "Grim Sleeper," got an amazing exclusive with Enietra Margette (fake name), the one person who survived his attacks that left 11 people dead over a 20-plus year span.

LA City Beat has a great article today about post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which can be 81 percent effective against the HIV virus after exposure. Problem is, while it's widely available for healthcare workers who accidently are exposed to blood and gay rape victims, it's pretty hard to find otherwise. PEP is actually a 30-day mix of pills that doctors fear would do much more harm to the spread of the virus than stopping it because those with PEP prescriptions might be encouraged to have less safe sex. “There’s a stigma when it comes to gay men,” Anthony Gutierrez of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center said. The Los Angeles Free Clinic didn't want to comment on the drug and another clinic only spoke to the weekly if they could remain anonymous.

An LAPD officer who patrols in Pacific Division (e.g., Venice, Playa del Rey), was arrested yesterday morning by Internal Affairs for attempted rape. "Based on preliminary information, it appears that a sanctioned LAPD Pacific Area holiday party had concluded and several Department employees were participating in an unofficial 'after party'" at a hotel near LAX, said the LAPD in a statement. "When allegations of criminal activity came to light, proper notifications were made and on-duty police supervisors and Internal Affairs Division investigators were dispatched." Eduardo Bermudez, 29, has been with the LAPD for two years. He was booked at Men's Central Jail and held on $100,00 bail.

He sexually assaulted seven young girls and women (the youngest was 14), some of them who were lured to Los Angeles with promises of jobs and rooms at luxury hotel rooms. Today, a jury in Los Angeles who deliberated for almost two weeks found 34-year-old Anand Jon Alexander guilty for 20 of the 23 counts he was charged with, which included forcible rape and committing a lewd act upon a child, according to the Associated Press. Alexander is most well known for his appearance on "America's Next Top Model" and for working with celebs such as Paril Hilton. In addition to his Beverly Hills escapades, he is under indictment in New York and is under investigation in Texas and Massachusetts.

Following the shocking news, media pressure and community outrage of the 7,000 untested rape-kits sitting on LAPD shelves, the LAPD along with Mayor Villaraigosa and City Attorney hopeful Jack Weiss announced a plan to catch up on the DNA testing of rape-kits. Basically, political will and funding will be directed towards the crime lab.

In response to City Controller Laura Chick's report on the LAPD's backlog of 7,000 untested rape-kits--over 200 of which are already past the statute of limitations--Chief William Bratton admitted the issue as a “tremendously important problem," at a press conference yesterday evening. Although Chick calls for fixing the problem in three years like New York City did when it had a backlog of 17,000 kits, Bratton's plan will clear the backup to zero by 2013... that is if the funding comes in, even though the program previously lost a half million dollars in an internal clerical error. Bratton's two prong plan basically grow the number of criminalists and lab techs by over 30 as well as contracting to DNA labs across the country.

Nearly 7,000 rape-kits sit on LAPD freezer shelves awaiting testing with at least 217 of those past the statute of limitations, rendering them useless even if a rapist is identified by the DNA collected. "It is beyond disturbing that the thousands of victims who have undergone the invasive ordeal of these 4-6 hour tests do not even know that their evidence is still untested" wrote City Controller Laura Chick in an audit of the police department's rape-kit testing program. "One of the audit's findings calls out a Penal Code provision that requires the LAPD to make this notification to victims; the LAPD does not do that now." The 25-page report can be read here (.pdf).

Two big news conferences are scheduled for Monday to present reports on the LAPD and not necessarily in a good light. First, at 11:00 a.m. on the steps of City Hall, City Controller Laura Chick will present her audit on the backlog of Forensic DNA rape-kits. It has been reported that their backlog is around 7,000 kits. That's thousands of chances to gather physical evidence and DNA that could help put criminals in jail. Chick's audit is expected to officially reaffirm those problems.

David Crown, 30, was arrested yesterday in Reseda for allegedly having repeat sexual encounters with a 14-year-old boy from Thousand Oaks. Sgt. Don Aguilar told the Associated Press that "Crown has known the teenager for about a year and has taken the boy to his San Fernando Valley home 'for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts.'"

If good things come in threes, it seems bad things come in twos, at least today in LA:

LAPD concluded that no crime was committed in the possible rape being investigated early this morning on USC's University Park Campus. We have no crime," said Los Angeles Police Department Officer April Harding of the Media Relations office. "The woman was interviewed and she admitted she was drinking and passed out. She was not raped." -- Fox The woman, a USC undergrad, was reported as passed out in a basement classroom around 3:30 a.m. by...

At 4:20 a.m. this morning, another student found a young 18 to 20-year-old woman lying unconscious on the ground. While officers were not able to speak to her because she did not regain consciousness until later during transport, they are considering all options of investigation, including rape. Authorities are unsure whether she was indeed physically attacked or if she could have become intoxicated and passed out, but police are "treating it as a crime scene,"...

Morning rush hour is from 5 a.m. to noon. Evening rush hour is from noon to 7 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. That and more unwritten LA rules of the road as told by Sue Doyle at the Daily News. Locally based and world-renown Architect Frank Gehry receives some moldy and cracked press today on NPR. Who doesn't like cartoons? "Most animated shows are covered by a different union from the Writers...

Photo by S:U:P:E:R:M:O:D via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

We know on Sunday that we can watch people bumpin' uglies on HBO as well as the randy exploits of a Hollywood posse on HBO as well as all the other junk on HBO because Sunday is an HBO kind of day. But I think that there's something else worth checking out that starts Sunday. The much anticipated and hugely overhyped new series from Ken Burns, The War, starts on Sunday night at 8:00pm...

- David Garcia, KNBC's environmental reporter died of liver failure yesterday in Palm Desert at 63. Adios, Earthman! - KNBC - If you are an illegal alien and you got pulled over, and the LAPD discovered that you didn't have a drivers license, your car would be immediately impounded. That practice might be illegal, somehow, so the LAPD are stopping that. The Sheriff's Dept., however, is a different story - LAT - Frisco man...

"Constance" by Mr. J. Medeiros of Echo Park

I'm not really sure how to review a movie like is so specific that I expect a lot of people won't like it. This was definitely the case in the screening I attended. On several occasions I heard the person sitting to my immediate right audibly begging for the movie to end. Meantime, I was laughing my ass off.