Cop's quest to catch rapist: 'I think about it all the time'

Debbie Love is haunted by a man she has never seen.

He is on her mind when she is awake and sometimes breaks into her dreams as she sleeps.

It's as if a serial rapist -- who has victimized seven Las Vegas Valley women since December 1996 -- is taunting her.

"I think about it all the time," the detective with the Metro Police sexual-assault unit said. "I'm tired of not being able to sleep at night."

She says a sexual assault is second only to murder in terms of violence.

Even though the unit has a high volume of cases -- more than 230 sexual assaults have been reported since Jan. 1 -- Love was assigned full time to the serial rapes.

Before May 18, five rapes and one attempted rape had been attributed to the unknown assailant, who lost a black Nike "beanie cap" during a March 24 struggle in which a woman successfully fought him off.

Around 4 a.m. May 18, the man struck a seventh time, attacking an 18-year-old woman in the southeast quadrant of town.

And this week a man reportedly broke into an apartment in the area of Flamingo and Pecos roads. Members of the sexual-assault unit blanketed the Fountains complex with fliers warning residents "that an unforced entry into an apartment by an individual wearing a ski mask occurred this morning at approximately 4:30 (Monday). The resident was not physically harmed in anyway."

The flier went on to say that police had not ruled out the possibility the incident could be related to the recent rapes in the area. However, Metro Police said Tuesday that the alleged break-in never occurred, and that the woman reporting the incident was merely frightened.

Only one assault attributed to the serial rapist has taken place outside of the southeast area. On March 5, a woman was raped in the northwest area by a man fitting the serial rapist's profile.

For many months, almost every Metro officer in the sex-crimes unit devoted a lot of time to the rape cases.

"We had people from every detail out there knocking on doors, looking in trash cans," former section head Lt. Craig Klatt said. In early May, Klatt transferred to patrol, glad to put the often heartbreaking cases handled by the sex-crimes unit behind him.

Whenever there is a new development in the case, as many detectives as necessary are pulled off other details to assist Love, who admits having become consumed with her investigation.

"We have contacted hundreds of people, not to mention contacts made by patrol officers," the 38-year-old said.

Love spends most of her day on the street, coming in early to the section's office, in leased space at 415 S. Sixth St., and working late. But she said she thinks about the case all the time regardless of where she is.

Limited-duty officers, those who for one reason or another can't work their normal assignments, help take phone calls and pass along information to Love and anyone else who might be working on the case.

"I try to contact five to six (possible suspects) a day," Love said. "A lot of times I can eliminate them as suspects before I see them, and a lot of them can be eliminated by talking to them."

As a rule, the serial rapist stalks his victim -- a woman who either lives alone or with another female in an apartment located next to a wall of an apartment complex. Then, typically between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., he enters the apartment through an unlocked sliding glass door or window, commits the assault and flees.

"He matches force with force, using whatever strength is required to overcome the resistance," Love said.

The rapist is described as a white male in his early 20s with short and thin light brown hair. He is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs between 150 and 160 pounds.

Love said a personality profile indicates that, while the suspect wants to prove his manhood through the use of sex, his object is not to injure. He is described as an underachiever with low self-esteem who has limited interaction with others, especially women. He also has a limited number of friends, most of whom are younger.

Much like the rest of the department, according to Metro officials, the section on Crimes against Youth and Family -- a division of the Detective Bureau -- is plagued by the constant problem of too little manpower to fight too many crimes.

"I've got job security," Sgt. Ralph Hemington, head of the section's sexual-abuse detail, says with only a touch of humor.

The section is an umbrella for several units, including those dealing with sexual assault, abuse and neglect of children and the elderly, advocates for victims and witnesses, and stalking and harassment cases.

"We never have enough people," Klatt said.

Two of the most emotion-packed units in the section are those dealing with sexual assault and children's sexual abuse.

"Victims of burglary and other property crimes feel violated," Klatt said, "but when you are dealing with sexual assault and abuse, violation takes on a whole new meaning.

"They are among the most heinous of crimes. Maybe it happens in only 15 to 20 minutes, but the victim will carry it with her for the rest of her life."

Lt. Tom Monahan replaced Klatt as section head. With only a few weeks at the section under his belt, Monahan hasn't had time to be burned out -- but it is a hazard of the trade. The turnover rate among officers in several of the units here is better than 50 percent.

Because of the heavy caseload, officers say, they can't delve as deeply into cases as they would like.

"There's always another case waiting," Hemington said. "The unit is overworked. But we have very dedicated detectives."

Sgt. Clint Robison, supervisor of the sexual-assault unit, said a sex offender "can be your next-door neighbor, a close friend or a relative."

Robison said sex offenders are like heroin addicts.

"You don't find many junkies who clean up their act," he said.

Many experts say the only way to control sex offenders is to take away their opportunity because the desire will always be there -- just as an alcoholic is always an alcoholic.

"The chances of re-offending are pretty high," Robison said.

Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., is co-sponsoring legislation that would require mandatory life sentences for serial rapists, double the penalties for repeat sex offenders and give federal authorities more freedom to track down sex offenders.

There are many kinds of rapists. Many are sexual predators, such as the serial rapist, but date rape also is common.

Favorite targets of rapists are exotic dancers and prostitutes, who often don't bother to report an assault or become difficult to find after they do file one, authorities said.

According to Robison, whose unit gets about 130 new cases per month, 30 to 40 percent of the rape cases result in uncooperative witnesses.

"Another 20 to 30 percent of the cases might have to be closed because of insufficient evidence," Robison said.

He said of the approximately 20 percent of cases that are sent to the district attorney for prosecution, 10 percent may end in conviction.

"The district attorney is overworked, too," Robison said.

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