Washington and Colorado serial rape cases

{{Short description|2008–2011 rapes in the United States}}

{{redirect|Marc O'Leary|people with similar names|Mark O'Leary (disambiguation)}}

Between 2008 and 2011, a series of rapes in the suburbs around Seattle and Denver were perpetrated by Marc Patrick O'Leary,{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=T. Christian |author-link1=T. Christian Miller |last2=Armstrong |first2=Ken |author-link2=Ken Armstrong (journalist) |title=An Unbelievable Story of Rape |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/false-rape-accusations-an-unbelievable-story |publisher=ProPublica, The Marshall Project |date=December 16, 2015 |access-date=September 14, 2019}} a United States Army veteran who had been stationed near Tacoma.{{cite news |last=Burnett |first=Sara |date=September 14, 2011 |title=Rape suspect in custody in Colorado linked to case in Washington state |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2011/09/14/rape-suspect-in-custody-in-colorado-linked-to-case-in-washington-state/ |work=The Denver Post |quote=O'Leary was assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Wash., from November 2006 to September 2009, according to military records. |access-date=September 14, 2019}} The first victim, an 18-year-old woman known as Marie, reported to Sergeant Jeffrey Mason and Jerry Rittgarn that she had been raped at her home in Lynnwood, Washington.{{r|Smith}} According to a later report, the bullying and hounding of her by the detectives led Marie to recant her statement, resulting in her being charged with making a false report of rape.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}}{{cite book |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Merril D. |title=Encyclopedia of Rape and Sexual Violence, Volume 2 |date=2018 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location= Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4408-4490-4 |page=440 |chapter=Stranger Rape}}{{cite news |title=Lynnwood to pay rape victim $150,000 in false-claim suit |first=Mike |last=Carter |date=2014-06-14 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/lynnwood-to-pay-rape-victim-150000-in-false-claim-suit/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418184852/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/lynnwood-to-pay-rape-victim-150000-in-false-claim-suit/ |archive-date=2021-04-18 |url-status=live}}

O'Leary went on to rape five more women in a similar manner, one in Washington and four in Colorado.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}} O'Leary was arrested in Lakewood, Colorado, in February 2011, following 40 days of investigation by a team of detectives from several departments.{{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Michael |title=Marc O'Leary, accused serial rapist, held on $5 million bond as cops search for more victims |url=https://www.westword.com/news/marc-oleary-accused-serial-rapist-held-on-5-million-bond-as-cops-search-for-more-victims-5847632 |website=Westword |date=February 15, 2011 |location=Denver |access-date=September 14, 2019}} The investigators used similarities in the attacker's methods, along with photos found on O'Leary's computer, to link O'Leary to the five rapes in both states.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}} He pleaded guilty to several counts of rape and was sentenced to the maximum {{Fraction|327|1|2}} years in prison in Colorado{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}}{{r|Smith}} and a total of {{Fraction|68|1|2}} years in Washington.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}}{{cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Carrie |date=June 11, 2012 |title=Serial rapist serving life sentence gets 40 more years for raping Kirkland woman |url=http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/serial-rapist-serving-life-sentence-gets-40-more-years-for-raping-kirkland-woman/ |work=Kirkland Reporter |access-date=September 14, 2019}} {{As of|2019}} he was imprisoned in Colorado's Sterling Correctional Facility.{{cite news |last=Dorwart |first=Laura |date= September 13, 2019|title=How two detectives tracked down a serial rapist—After police didn't believe his first victim |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/rapist-marc-patrick-o-leary-unbelievable-story-detectives |work=Real Crime |access-date=June 10, 2020 |publisher=A&E Television Networks}}{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Ken |last2=Miller |first2=T. Christian |date=December 16, 2015 |title=How We Reported 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape' |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/12/16/how-we-reported-an-unbelievable-story-of-rape |publisher=The Marshall Project |access-date=June 10, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Sorren |first=Martha |date= September 14, 2019 |title= The real rapist from Unbelievable won't be able to hurt another woman again |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/09/8390248/is-chris-mccarthy-still-in-jail-alive-netflix-unbelievable |access-date=June 10, 2020 |website=Refinery29}}

Between 2008 and 2012, Lynnwood police labeled 21 percent of rape cases as "unfounded", five times the national average for similarly sized municipalities.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}} An outside review of Marie's case by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office found that she had been "coerced into admitting that she lied" and that the police had ignored strong evidence of the crime to focus on "minor inconsistencies" in her account.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}} Lynnwood police have since adopted new training methods for sexual assault investigations,{{cite news |last=Bryan |first=Zachariah |date=September 27, 2019 |title=Lynnwood police chief reflects on 'Unbelievable' rape case |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/lynnwood-police-chief-reflects-on-unbelievable-rape-case/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=September 29, 2019}} and must have "definitive proof" of lying before questioning a rape report.{{r|Smith}} Despite the review, no Lynnwood police officers were professionally disciplined; in 2014, the city of Lynwood settled with Marie for $150,000 ({{Inflation|US|150000|2014|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) for the mishandling of her case and the false-claim charge by their police department.{{r|Miller & Armstrong 2015}}

T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their "examination and exposé of law enforcement's enduring failures" in the rape investigations.{{cite news|last=Bazelon |first=Emily |author-link=Emily Bazelon |title=The Lesson Here Is Listen to the Victim |date=March 6, 2018 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/books/review/a-false-report-t-christian-miller-ken-armstrong.html |access-date=September 14, 2019 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web |title=The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Explanatory Reporting |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/t-christian-miller-propublica-and-ken-armstrong-marshall-project |publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes, Columbia University |access-date=July 19, 2019}} Their work, titled "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", was used as the basis for an episode of This American Life, narrated in part by Armstrong, and the Netflix series Unbelievable.{{r|Bazelon}}{{cite web |title=Anatomy of Doubt |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/581/anatomy-of-doubt |website=This American Life |date=February 26, 2016 |access-date=September 14, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Bethonie |title=The true story behind 'Unbelievable,' Netflix's gripping new drama about the women who solved a serial rape case |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 17, 2019 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/09/17/unbelievable-true-story-behind-netflixs-gripping-new-drama-about-women-who-solved-serial-rape-case/ |url-access=limited}}{{cite web |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/netflix-series-based-on-our-work-explores-costs-of-not-believing-rape-victims|title=Netflix Series Based on Our Work Explores Costs of Not Believing Rape Victims|last1=Armstrong |first1=Ken |last2=Miller |first2=T. Christian |date=September 5, 2019 |publisher=ProPublica |access-date=September 14, 2019}}