Serial rapist

A serial rapist is a person who carries out multiple rapes, either against different victims or the same victim repeatedly over time. Some target children. Terms like sexual predator, repeat rape, and multiple offending can apply to those who commit several consecutive rapes but are not prosecuted—based on self-reports in research. Others commit their assaults while in prison. Occasionally, groups of serial rapists operate together. Their behavior can follow a pattern, which law enforcement sometimes uses to predict their actions and help secure arrests and convictions. Compared to one-time offenders, serial rapists are more likely to involve kidnapping, verbal and physical threats, and the use or threat of weapons.

In law enforcement, evidence from physical exams and victim testimony often sits with multiple agencies, which can delay recognizing that the same person has committed crimes over time. Conviction may be slowed when victims do not cooperate. Evidence includes DNA, saliva, fingerprints, hair, vaginal swabs, fingernail scrapings, and bed linens. Investigators often give serial rapists a "nickname" based on their tactics or patterns before making an arrest. Serial rapists are more likely to be convicted than rapists known to their victims. However, they often go unrecognized because analyzing rape kit backlogs is slow, and it may take years to link past rapes to one person. Case Western Reserve University found that sexual offenders tend to have prior arrests: 26% had been arrested for sexual assault, and 60% had been arrested for at least one other sexual assault unrelated to the first. To help catch such offenders, the FBI created its Behavioral Science Unit in 1974.

Serial rapists use various tactics to lure victims. One method is using online dating sites to find potential targets. Another is threatening to harm the victim or their family. Drugging the victim is also used. Some focus on specific targets and their schedules. They may describe their activities on websites, detailing the tactics they use. In 2014, an 18-year-old accused of serial rapes used cell phone messaging apps like Facebook, Kik, and Snapchat to build relationships with girls. Some drive victims to remote locations.

Personality traits of perpetrators include being highly manipulative, charismatic, and charming. Serial rapists differ from single-victim rapists. Single-victim rapists tend to travel farther before the assault and use a "capture" method, such as posing as a hitchhiker, or a "con" method by meeting at a bar or party and engaging socially. Serial rapists, by contrast, often ambush victims or use a "blitz" approach. They are more likely to target strangers. They also show more criminally sophisticated behaviors, like using condoms and gloves, and controlling physical resistance through gagging, binding, blindfolding, and smothering. They are more likely to question victims and show awareness of investigative and forensic methods—something law enforcement can use as an investigative clue. Serial rapists are more likely to target sex workers than single-victim rapists. They may improve their skills by studying serial rape, including rehearsing through films, pornography, and relevant literature, using sexual fantasies, building assault-related knowledge, learning from other serial rapists, and drawing on their own past experiences of physical or sexual abuse.

To prevent serial rapes, some propose investigating the offender rather than the crime. The backlog of untested rape kits hinders identification. Hundreds of thousands of rape kits remain untested across the US, and most law enforcement agencies do not track or count them. The testing process is complicated, invasive, time-consuming, and can re-traumatize victims. The FBI maintains a DNA database that allows comparisons between cases, but the backlog lets perpetrators continue offending before being linked to other assaults. While no victim is to blame, law enforcement organizations say it is possible to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of a serial rapist.