March 2, 2018 – In Breaking News – CNN
A Tucson man was convicted of raping seven women over a 12-year period after police received a grant to test rape kits and changed a “mindset” over which kits get tested.
“The old view was if you have a situation where the victim reported it was without consent but the defendant or suspect reported that it was with consent and there was nothing to corroborate either way, there was the idea that maybe it wasn’t worth testing the sexual assault kit because it doesn’t show consent versus lack of consent,” Nicol Green, deputy attorney for Pima County, told ABC News.
Green, along with deputy attorney Tracy Miller, prosecuted the case against Nathan Loebe, who was found guilty on 12 counts of sexual assault, five counts of kidnapping, three counts of stalking and one count of attempted sexual assault, according to the Associated Press, for cases that occurred between 2003 and 2015.
(I Am Evidence exposed the alarming number of untested rape kits in the United States through a character–driven narrative, bringing much needed attention to the disturbing pattern of how the criminal justice system has historically treated sexual assault survivors. Courtesy of HBO and YouTube. Posted on Feb 26, 2018.)
“Victims reported that they met a man in a bar or through an online dating site.”
“He provided false names and lied about who he was,” Pima County Attorney’s Office wrote on Facebook.
“Most of the victims reported that they had drinks with the man, and then they either lost consciousness or became incapacitated. The man then sexually assaulted them.”
Loebe had previously been a suspect in sexual assault cases, according to the Arizona Daily Star, but claimed sexual activity had occurred with consent.
It wasn’t until law enforcement started following the “forklift approach” of testing every rape kit regardless of investigation details that they were able to build a case against Loebe.
(Police say Nathan Loebe, after meeting a child actor who appeared on ‘Family Ties, assumed his identity all in an effort to attract women and then sexually assault them. Courtesy of WLKY News Louisville and YouTube. Posted on Feb 10, 2017.)
Continue reading… Serial rapist convicted after testing of rape kit backlog prioritized
AST strives to meet a 3 STAR trustworthiness rating, based on the following criteria:
- Provides named sources
- Reported by more than one notable outlet
- Includes supporting video, direct statements, or photos
Subscribe to the AST Daily News Alert Here.
