Rape Incident Near Downtown Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill Police arrested a homeless man Monday night and charged him with raping a woman earlier that evening behind an apartment complex near downtown.
According to the police report, the incident occurred around 7p.m. in an embankment
behind the Oak Terrace Apartments on Airport Road.
Christy Baker, a resident of Oak Terrace, said she and the residents below her
heard screams coming from behind the parking lot. They called the police and
went to see what was wrong outside, where they found the victim down by the
creek.
Police officers said the victim told them the suspect forced her to the ground
and attempted to sexually assault her.
The suspect did not use a weapon, but he used his hands and feet to force her
to the ground, the officers said.
Baker said the victim was also able to describe the suspect to the police, and
she knew the perpetrator prior to the incident.
With the description, the police were able to find and arrest the suspect, Gregory
Donnell Valdez, at the homeless shelter at 100 W. Rosemary St.
Valdez was arrested and charged with second-degree rape. He was sent to the
Orange County Jail, and his bond was set at $15,000.
SIDEBAR:
Chapel Hill police allege that this incident was a case of acquaintance rape,
and not a stranger or date rape.
This means that the victim knew Valdez prior to the incident Monday evening.
Barbara Lagemann, of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, defined acquaintance
rape as, “the victim knows the perpetrator personally or even knows him/her
as a neighbor and would recognize his/her face; but they are not dating.”
Seventy-five percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone known by the
victim, said Lagemann.
According to the N.C. Coalition Against Sexual Assault in North Carolina (NCCASA),
70 percent of sexual assault victims knew their assailant last year.
But according to Chapel Hill Police Crisis Center, acquaintance rape is less
likely to be reported. Only 46 percent of sexual assault victims reported their
case to law enforcement last year, according to the NCCASA.
Dana Richardson, of the Police Crisis Center, said, “There are a lot of
circumstances that cause them not to report, such as how brutal it was, how
responsible the victim feels or how hard it might be to recover from the incident.”
Acquaintance rape cases come in much more common intervals than stranger rapes
to the Police Crisis Center, said Matt Sullivan, of the department.
“Even what we know, said Sullivan, is not all that is out there.”
Lagemann explained that the most important thing for sexual assault victims
to remember is that they must believe that the only person who can stop the
assault is the suspect.
“The victim can do everything right to protect herself and still get raped
or assaulted,” she said.
Sources:
1) Chapel Hill Police Department incident and arrest reports
2) Jane Cousins of the Chapel Hill Police Department- 968-2870
3) Christy Baker- resident of Oak Terrace
4) Barbara Lagemann of Orange County Rape Crisis Center
5) N.C. Coalition Against Sexual Assault- www.nccasa.org
6) Dana Richardson and Matt Sullivan of the Chapel Hill Police Crisis Center