Melvin Carter, known as the College Terrace Rapist, is an American serial rapist who confessed to at least 100 rapes of women between 1971 and 1980.[2]
Carter was born in Colorado. While intellectually gifted, he had limited social and emotional skills, and would later describe his mother as domineering. He was a successful student at the School of Mines.
He began to stalk women in public parks, coming up behind them and groping their breasts. Later he used ether to render his victims unconscious, groping them after they were unconscious. During this period he also spent one night in jail for voyeurism. After graduating, he moved to California where he secured a job in the Bay Area as a computer engineer.[3]
College Terrace attacksEdit
Although Carter had occasionally dated women, he was never intimate with any of his dates.[2] He became known as the College Terrace Rapist because he chose that area for many of his attacks. College Terrace is an area of about 24 blocks immediately adjacent to Escondido Village in Stanford University. Carter would first determine whether a potential victim lived alone. If she did, he would break into her residence during the day when she was at work to determine the layout so he could later move around at night. After leaving a window open, he would return at night to rape the woman.[3] At least 11 women living in College Terrace were raped at knifepoint by Carter between 1971 and 1980. One of the rape victims, a 32-year-old lawyer named Susan, wrote about her experience for a creative writing class. She said that she did not know if being raped would be her last moment alive, and she decided to be very calm and centered.[4]
Other attacksEdit
Carter also attacked women in San Francisco, Davis, Berkeley and other California cities. However, he became known as the College Terrace Rapist by first being identified as a serial rapist there and eventually being arrested in Palo Alto.[4]
Arrest, conviction and sentenceEdit
The attacks occurred about once per year through 1976, which was not frequently enough for residents and police to realize that all the attacks were perpetrated by one serial rapist. In July 1979, when the second rape of the year happened, the attacks were attributed to a serial rapist for the first time.[4] By the time the fourth rape of 1979 happened, the community came together to fight back. A major manhunt was undertaken by the police with the support and urging of the community. The 300 white males living in and around the area were questioned as to possibly being the rapist. Flyers were distributed to the 30 single women living in the neighborhood warning them of the rapist.[5] Details such as the size of women's breasts preferred by the rapist were revealed to the residents.[6] One, Susan, was raped the night after seeing the flyer.[5]
A decoy house was established in one residence, staffed by a female undercover officer who left her doors and windows open in an attempt to lure in the rapist. A different ploy by an officer, John Costa, ultimately led to solving the case. Costa suspected that the rapist knew that undercover officers were in the area, and was as a result intentionally lying low. Costa pretended to be called away from the area, leaving loudly with lights flashing. This caused the rapist to drop his guard, and when Costa returned more quietly, he immediately found and questioned Carter. Eventually enough evidence was found to arrest Carter.[5]
After this arrest in 1980, Carter was charged with 23 crimes including multiple counts of rape.[2] He was not charged with many of the rapes because the statute of limitations had expired. As a result of this case, the statute of limitations for rape in California was raised from three years to six.[4] He was sentenced to 25 years and released in 1994 after serving about half his sentence. His release was highly controversial.[2]
After his parole ended in 1997, he left California.[7] In 2018, he was jailed in Livingston County, New York.[8]
ImpactEdit
Carter's case led directly to an increase in the statute of limitations for rape in California. The new law was authored by Assemblyman Byron Sher and was praised by law enforcement officials throughout the Bay Area. The previous statute of limitations – three years – had often been ineffective in prosecuting serial rapists because often by the time all leads could be fully explored, the time limit would have nearly expired. Six years was considered a more appropriate limit because there was precedent for that in other states – and that is about the limit beyond which witnesses' testimony might become unreliable.[9]
ReferencesEdit
^"Protests Over Serial Rapist's Parole Subside". New York Times. 1994-03-20. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
^ abcd"A serial rapist's trail of tragedies". freelancestar.com. 1994-03-28. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
^ abHickey 2009, p. 171. sfn error: no target: CITEREFHickey2009 (help)
^ abcdHowton, Elizabeth. "Remembering the terror in College Terrace". Palo Alto online. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
^ abcBowling, Matt. "The College Terrace Rapist: A Community Fights Back". Palo Alto History. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
^"Freed Rapist Leaves State -- Destination Unknown". 6 February 1997.
^"Serial rapist outed in 13 WHAM investigation back in jail in Livingston County". 17 April 2018.
^Guttman, Monika (October 2, 1981). "Three years added to the statute of limitations on rape". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
BibliographyEdit
Hickey, Eric (2009). "Sexual Predators, Paraphilia, and Murder". Serial Murderers and their Victims. Cengage Learning. ISBN978-0-495-60081-7.
October 20, 2023
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Melvin Carter known as the College Terrace Rapist is an American serial rapist who confessed to at least 100 rapes of women between 1971 and 1980 2 Melvin CarterBornColorado USCriminal statusParoled after about 12 years on March 20 1994 1 Criminal chargeRapePenalty25 years imprisonment Contents 1 Early life 2 College Terrace attacks 3 Other attacks 4 Arrest conviction and sentence 5 Impact 6 References 7 BibliographyEarly life EditCarter was born in Colorado While intellectually gifted he had limited social and emotional skills and would later describe his mother as domineering He was a successful student at the School of Mines He began to stalk women in public parks coming up behind them and groping their breasts Later he used ether to render his victims unconscious groping them after they were unconscious During this period he also spent one night in jail for voyeurism After graduating he moved to California where he secured a job in the Bay Area as a computer engineer 3 College Terrace attacks EditAlthough Carter had occasionally dated women he was never intimate with any of his dates 2 He became known as the College Terrace Rapist because he chose that area for many of his attacks College Terrace is an area of about 24 blocks immediately adjacent to Escondido Village in Stanford University Carter would first determine whether a potential victim lived alone If she did he would break into her residence during the day when she was at work to determine the layout so he could later move around at night After leaving a window open he would return at night to rape the woman 3 At least 11 women living in College Terrace were raped at knifepoint by Carter between 1971 and 1980 One of the rape victims a 32 year old lawyer named Susan wrote about her experience for a creative writing class She said that she did not know if being raped would be her last moment alive and she decided to be very calm and centered 4 Other attacks EditCarter also attacked women in San Francisco Davis Berkeley and other California cities However he became known as the College Terrace Rapist by first being identified as a serial rapist there and eventually being arrested in Palo Alto 4 Arrest conviction and sentence EditThe attacks occurred about once per year through 1976 which was not frequently enough for residents and police to realize that all the attacks were perpetrated by one serial rapist In July 1979 when the second rape of the year happened the attacks were attributed to a serial rapist for the first time 4 By the time the fourth rape of 1979 happened the community came together to fight back A major manhunt was undertaken by the police with the support and urging of the community The 300 white males living in and around the area were questioned as to possibly being the rapist Flyers were distributed to the 30 single women living in the neighborhood warning them of the rapist 5 Details such as the size of women s breasts preferred by the rapist were revealed to the residents 6 One Susan was raped the night after seeing the flyer 5 A decoy house was established in one residence staffed by a female undercover officer who left her doors and windows open in an attempt to lure in the rapist A different ploy by an officer John Costa ultimately led to solving the case Costa suspected that the rapist knew that undercover officers were in the area and was as a result intentionally lying low Costa pretended to be called away from the area leaving loudly with lights flashing This caused the rapist to drop his guard and when Costa returned more quietly he immediately found and questioned Carter Eventually enough evidence was found to arrest Carter 5 After this arrest in 1980 Carter was charged with 23 crimes including multiple counts of rape 2 He was not charged with many of the rapes because the statute of limitations had expired As a result of this case the statute of limitations for rape in California was raised from three years to six 4 He was sentenced to 25 years and released in 1994 after serving about half his sentence His release was highly controversial 2 After his parole ended in 1997 he left California 7 In 2018 he was jailed in Livingston County New York 8 Impact EditCarter s case led directly to an increase in the statute of limitations for rape in California The new law was authored by Assemblyman Byron Sher and was praised by law enforcement officials throughout the Bay Area The previous statute of limitations three years had often been ineffective in prosecuting serial rapists because often by the time all leads could be fully explored the time limit would have nearly expired Six years was considered a more appropriate limit because there was precedent for that in other states and that is about the limit beyond which witnesses testimony might become unreliable 9 References Edit Protests Over Serial Rapist s Parole Subside New York Times 1994 03 20 Retrieved 2014 10 29 a b c d A serial rapist s trail of tragedies freelancestar com 1994 03 28 Retrieved 2014 10 25 a b Hickey 2009 p 171 sfn error no target CITEREFHickey2009 help a b c d Howton Elizabeth Remembering the terror in College Terrace Palo Alto online Retrieved 2014 04 16 a b c Bowling Matt The College Terrace Rapist A Community Fights Back Palo Alto History Retrieved 2021 07 13 MacCalla Mandy Narrow Escapes Stanford Storytelling Project Stanford University Retrieved 2021 07 13 Freed Rapist Leaves State Destination Unknown 6 February 1997 Serial rapist outed in 13 WHAM investigation back in jail in Livingston County 17 April 2018 Guttman Monika October 2 1981 Three years added to the statute of limitations on rape The Stanford Daily Retrieved September 1 2020 Bibliography EditHickey Eric 2009 Sexual Predators Paraphilia and Murder Serial Murderers and their Victims Cengage Learning ISBN 978 0 495 60081 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Melvin Carter criminal amp oldid 1173747864, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
