Question

Revisit and review the article Ten Profiles of Rapists for this week. Choose four of the rapist profiles listed, that you think are the most common. Explain your choices for each.

Answer 1

Although most rapists are men their victims know and trust, repeat rapists striking strangers are the ones who achieve notoriety and designer labels: the Pillowcase Rapist, the Ninja Rapist, the Ski Mask Rapist and now the Peninsula Rapist.

The typical serial rapist leads a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde life, undetected by neighbors, co-workers, even family. He may work his way through dozens or even hundreds of victims before he's caught - assuming he ever is.

Who are these men and what makes them tick?

A small band of criminologists and psychologists make it their life's work to find out, devising elaborate psychological profiles of specific rapists. They peruse crime scenes and query victims looking for clues to the rapists' psyches - conversation, sexual performance, signs indicating they felt remorseful or proud of their crimes.

Authorities then use the profiles to identify suspects and to attempt to elicit confessions after their apprehension.

Experts say that's what is happening in the Peninsula Rapist case, where investigators have been operating off a criminal profile prepared for the Santa Clara-San Mateo Multi-Agency Task Force by experts with the California Justice Department and the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.

What cops are looking for?

Among the theories: The Peninsula Rapist is probably single and either lives alone or with a "significant other" upon whom he depends financially. He seems polite, and notably respectful of older women. Nothing in his demeanor suggests he is a sex predator.

He can come and go as he pleases most of the time, but after 11 p.m. must account for his time - to a family member, employer or friend. He may have sought validation by talking about his assaults - not confessing, but praising the offender for his ability to outwit authorities. And his criminal history likely includes "street crimes" such as purse snatches, fighting and strong-arm robberies.

Investigators have yet to disclose how closely the suspect they have in custody on unrelated charges - 25-year-old Romel Demetrias Reid - resembles the profile.

"It's always interesting when they arrest a guy - if he's the right guy - to see how closely he matches the profile," said Nicholas Groth, a clinical psychologist who has trained FBI specialists in forming rapist profiles. "The nature of this is that you generate a lot of speculation from a little bit of data.

"But understanding the mind of a rapist can be key to solving the case."

Four types of serial rapists

Experts classify sexual attackers into four categories, with individuals falling somewhere along the spectrum:

*Reassurance-seeking rapist:

Believed to be the most common serial type, this is the category into which experts have placed the Peninsula Rapist. Among the others who fit it: Melvin Carter, the College Terrace Rapist, who told police he had committed 100 rapes before his 1980 arrest. He was convicted of 23 crimes and paroled in 1994.

This type of perpetrator is driven to compulsive behavior by deep feelings of inadequacy - not necessarily sexual inadequacy. Usually, he is shy, a loner, an underachiever who may feel dominated by his regular partner.

Almost anything can trigger the need to prove his worth - a breakup with a girlfriend, an unfavorable work evaluation, a suggestion that he might be gay. Rape offers the illusion of complete control, obtained either by a weapon, physical or verbal intimidation or drugging.

He prowls and peeps through familiar neighborhoods, selecting and surprising his victims at random, often targeting those who seem weak.

This rapist is polite and tries to involve the victim, exhibiting signs of "affection" by hugging and kissing. He fantasizes that the sex is consensual and the victim will enjoy it. Some ask the victim to compare their sexual performance to that of other men, or ask the victim if she would like to get together again - in rare cases, even giving their names and phone numbers to their victims.

Victims have their best chance of resisting this kind of rapist, who may give up if he cannot establish control. Groth told of one case in which a serial rapist said to a woman, "I'm going to rape you," and she responded, "No, you're not, and besides, you're too nice a guy to do such a horrible thing." She had asserted herself without insulting him; he let her go.

Whether the rape is completed or not, the rapist often feels unfulfilled, rationalizes that his victim didn't reciprocate because he picked the wrong one, and moves on to others.

*Power-seeking rapist:

This rapist operates on the assumption that women owe him sex. Masking his doubts with machismo, he feels he is not really a man unless he can seize whatever he wants.

One example may be boxer Mike Tyson, who had a history of abusing women before his conviction in 1992 for raping a teenage beauty pageant contestant.

Erotic-aggression rapist:

This most rare of rapes accounts for only 10 percent of sexual assaults, yet often makes news because of its sensationalism. The rapist uses either ritualism - bondage, spanking and the like - or sadism. His victims are vulnerable women whom he can control. A classic example: Leo Anthony Goodloe, who until his 1994 conviction enticed East Bay prostitutes and drug addicts into his company and then brutally savaged them, slicing them with broken beer bottles or sodomizing them with a knife. This type of rapist is aroused by his victims' sufferings, particularly if they struggle to escape. The torture often culminates in murder.

Retaliatory rapist:

This rapist is angry at the world - and often, at a particular woman or women in general. A perceived wrong ignites an attack, usually within 24 hours.

Unlike the reassurance-seeking rapist, who often premeditates his crimes, this rapist acts on impulse, often using debilitating force. Once his rage is spent, he may never rape again or at least not until stresses crescendo to another eruption.