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Suspected Rapist Still Walking Streets of Puerto Viejo

The serial rapist who judicial officials believe has preyed on at least seven women including a 16-year old girl is still walking the streets in Puerto Viejo, they said.

Agents believe they know who the rapist is, said a judicial official Wednesday. But the one case that may have enough evidence for a conviction, hasn’t even gotten the suspect in preventative detention. Instead the suspect must simply sign in to the prosecutor every 15 days, said a court spokeswoman.

In January of 1997, a court sentenced the suspect, Rolando Alonso Brown Humphreys, to 13 years in prison for rape. Brown only served six of those 13 years, said Guillermo Bermúdez, the regional director of the Judicial Investigation Organization in Limón. “His sentence was probably cut in half for good behavior. He may have swept the floors and helped clean,” said Bermúdez. Brown was released in 2003.

Since 2003, eight women have reported rapes or attempted rapes in the Puerto Viejo area, said Bermúdez. Three of the reported rapes were this year, said the Limón judicial director.

And officials believe there may be more victims. “Many may not have reported the crime since they left the country or were scared,” said César Villalobos, the regional judicial director of the Judicial Investigation Organization in Bribri. After numerous lab results came back inconclusive or negative, officials did not have enough evidence to arrest anyone, said Villalobos. Many times the rapist has covered the victims face with a cloth to preserve his identity. He preys mainly on women not from the area, such as tourists, said officials.

Many of the women reported that the rapist approached them and asked them where they were from, according to Bermúdez. He then attempts to speak English with the victim, said the judicial official. The man then covers the victim’s face, many times with an article of their her clothing, said Bermúdez. He proceeds to rape her and ask her questions as he rapes her, said Bermúdez

In 2003, Brown served eight more months of preventative prison in an attempted rape case, said Bermúdez. The outcome was uncertain.

Judicial agents have investigated Brown in the rape of a 16 year old girl and a 55-year-old woman from the United States, among others, said Bermúdez. Five out of the seven victims were foreigners, added the judicial official. The majority of the reported victims are in their 20s, said Bermúdez, there was also a 36-year-old victim, he said.

One victim who fought off the rapist in March, reported the crime and named Brown as the suspect, officials said. However, officials seemed to be confused as to whether the crime was an attempted rape or a robbery.

Somehow when the victim filed the complaint about an attempted rape, the case was filed as a “robbery” by a judge in Bribri, said Eddie Ryan, vice president of the Cámara de Turismo de Puerto Viejo. Whether the woman was in a state of shock, the judicial complaint was unclear or the judge made an error is not known, said Ryan, who has been active in the case. The townspeople have been active, too, and sent a petition to the president of the Corte Suprema de Justicia, Luis Paulino Mora Mora, according to Ryan.

Bermúdez also said he had the complaint listed as a robbery. A court spokeswoman, however said the prosecutor in Bribri is calling the crime a rape. The suspect, must sign in every 15 days, must not approach the victim and must remain at home, said the spokeswoman. The spokeswoman did not know if the crime had previously been labeled as a robbery, she said, but the duration of the restrictive measures have been extended for three more months.