Sex Crimes

by David Lohr

In the early morning hours of August 7, 1987, serial-killer Dayton Leroy Rogers picked up his last prostitute victim, 26-year-old Jenny Smith. He drove her into the parking lot of a small business complex in Clackamas County, a small suburb of Portland, Ore.

Rogers was known by prostitutes for his odd behavior and bondage fetishes; it probably came as no surprise to Smith when he asked her to remove her clothes and bound her hands with a restraint fashioned from a shoe lace. He then began to cut her back and breasts with a knife. Smith screamed in horror. Rogers then shoved the knife into her vagina and began to stab her uncontrollably. Suddenly, the restraint gave way and Smith fell out onto the pavement. Bleeding profusely from her wounds, she tried to escape. Rogers quickly got out of the truck and grabbed her by the neck. He threw her to the ground and continued to stab her over and over.

April 3, 2003
Updated 09/14/03 and 02/06/04

by Lona Manning

For an instant, Candice Foley didn't know where she was when she woke up that morning. She wasn't in her own bed. Or on a friend's sofa. She was in a hospital bed. And while she was familiar with how it felt to wake up with a hangover, this was also different – she felt spaced out, a little woozy. Had she been in a car accident or something?

Back row (lr): Author Lora Lusher's paternal grandfather, her father SFPD Inspector Ted Lusher, her mother Claire, her maternal grandmother (who lived with Jack Bokin and his parents) and Bokin's father, Jack Sr. Front row (lr): Lusher's brother, her sister, Lora Lusher at age 2 and her cousin Jack Bokin at age 9.

by Lora Lusher

The following study, by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, is not only comprehensive, but will tell most people more than they ever wanted to know about sex crimes and the people who commit those crimes.  We have done some editing to make the study fit the format of our pages, and to eliminate some surplusages.

Sex Offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault

By Lawrence A. Greenfeld | BJS Statistician | February 1997

Highlights

In 1995 persons age 12 or older reported experiencing an estimated 260,300 attempted or completed rapes and nearly 95,000 threatened or completed sexual assaults other than rape.

* The number reported by victims age 12 or older in 1995 declined significantly from 1993:

1993 -- 1 violent sex offense for every 435 residents

Updated January 14, 2007

by Lona Manning

"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters"

Kelly Michaels never intended to become a preschool teacher -- she had taken fine arts and drama in college -- but she wanted to live near New York City and was looking for something to pay the rent when she applied at Wee Care Day Care in Maplewood, N.J. Although Kelly doubted if she had the qualifications, the director, Arlene Spector, had been encouraging and had persuaded her to give it a try. Once hired, Kelly was quickly promoted from teacher's aide to preschool teacher.

by Lona Manning

Mary and Robert Halsey

Robert Halsey is in prison in Massachusetts. He's in his 70s, in poor health and he's been behind bars since 1993. Officially, he was convicted of sexual assault on children, but in another sense, he was convicted of being the bogeyman. His trial transcript makes for chilling reading -- and not for the reason you might expect. It raises the frightening possibility that an innocent person was accused and convicted of a childish concoction of fantasy and fear.

April 14, 2003

by Ryan Ross

Copyright by Ryan Ross. 2003. All rights reserved. Copying and posting or otherwise disseminating any portion of this article is a violation of copyright law.

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Editor's Note:

On July 9, 2008, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy stated that DNA tests conducted by Bode Technology Group revealed that skin cells left behind on JonBenet Ramsey's long underwear point to a killer other than the girl's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, or her brother, Burke. Mrs. Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006 at age 49.