Casper, February 09: Authorities say a Wyoming woman was assaulted at her front door, raped at knifepoint in her living room and left bound on the
floor, and they say one of the men charged in the brutal attack claimed that he thought it was invited.
Two men are accused in the crime. One is charged with carrying out the rape. The other, the woman’s ex-boyfriend, stands accused of posing as the victim online and claiming she harbored a rape fantasy and wanted to be assaulted.
The case in the Wyoming city of Casper illustrates that middle America isn’t immune to the dangers of internet anonymity and predators who target victims through online ads that hint at sex and prostitution.
A few days before the Casper woman was raped, she had complained to the Natrona county sheriff’s department that someone had made a false Craigslist posting about her, including photographs and personal information. The ad read, “Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women,” authorities said.
Craigslist took the advertisement down when the woman complained. Yet prosecutors say it was posted long enough to catch the attention of McDowell, a medical technologist. The Casper case is one of several sex crimes to grab headlines recently in which the internet linked perpetrators and victims.
-Agencies