Though the differences in treatment and sentencing between elite and non-elite white collar criminals have been explored in general, little attention has been focused on alleged serial rapists from the general population as compared to those who qualify as famous and/or widely revered, societal figures. This study tracks five males from each of the two categories, analyzing their differential treatment at each stage of the prosecutorial process and their differential sentencing as the legal system determines an outcome. Marked differences between the two groups are identified and discussed, with theoretical interpretations employed. Elite serial rapists as insidious-innovators are offered as an alternative model to current theoretical applications.

In a culture that idolizes celebrities, wealth, and people of authority, it is easy to forget that these people are equally capable of committing crimes, even heinous crimes, like anyone else. Although extensive literature has explored the effects of race, socioeconomic status, and attractiveness on perceptions of rape defendants, few studies have considered the influence of celebrity status on people’s perceptions of events related to rape.¹ The current study focuses on elite serial rapists - rapists that have engaged in sexual assault in at least two separate incidents with two or more victims. When rapists have an elite status, whether it is a result of wealth, occupation, or fame, they have an easier time keeping their victims quiet and continuing to get away with rape. This is of paramount importance because people that have an elite status are enabled to commit violent crimes against the powerless with little repercussion. Violent crime statistics show rape as a decreasing issue, but there are now questions as to whether this decline is due to police departments’ under-reporting rape incidents.² Further, since many victims go through their lives without reporting a sexual assault, it is unknown exactly how many people are victims of rape each year. According to previous studies, it has been shown that police departments of varying jurisdictions are undercounting instances of rape by discounting allegations as unfounded.² 

Since serial rapists have consistently been shown to be more criminally sophisticated, it can be inferred that this specific type of individual has the knowledge to evade law enforcement. Are these people intuitively intelligent? If serial rapists are more intuitive, is it possible that they have an occupation that reflects that intelligence, likely placing them in a position where they can manipulate their victims in ways that single-victim rapists cannot? Conflict theory applies to this manipulation due to its focus on issues of power; elite serial rapists exert their power over their powerless victims. Anomie theory also applies because it places a higher value on “success” than on virtue and morality. Elite serial rapists are considered successful in society, and thus do not feel compelled to be virtuous. The present study will introduce a new theory suggesting that elite serial rapists are able to commit crime by identifying as a conformist according to Merton, yet turn to innovation in the worst possible way in order to get away with their crimes. Does one’s status allow them to get away with rape? Can this status be used as a way to continue sexual assaults, allowing them to become a serial rapist? There has been very little research conducted on this dangerous type of criminal. Serial rapists, unlike serial murderers, have flown under the radar in most of today’s media reports. By honing in on serial rapists with some sort of elite status, knowledge on how these people operate can be gained in hopes of eliminating this type of behavior. The current study predicts that people of status are more likely to receive a more lenient sentence and are less likely to be convicted. Introducing the present study's new theory will raise awareness of a problem that has gone unevaluated for far too long.

Definition of Elite

There has been very little research conducted on people with an elite status that are serial rapists. To begin this research, one must define “elite” and decide what types of people are included while tackling this issue. For this paper, a person with an elite status is one that has achieved some level of respect in the community or society, whether it is a result of wealth, occupation, or fame. Some examples of occupations that make people elite are police officers, teachers, professional athletes, actors, and others. The elite people that will be the focus of this paper are: Bill Cosby, Michael Bremont, Daniel Holtzclaw, Roger Magaña, and Jameis Winston. Each of these people had established an elite status of some sort (Appendix A) and were able to manipulate their victims in order to evade prosecution for quite some time.

Definition of serial rape

Finding one, single definition of serial rape can prove to be challenging. To be as inclusive as possible, this paper will adopt Park’s definition of serial rape: “…the serial rapist has engaged in sexual assault in at least two separate incidents with two or more different victims”.³ After employing this definition, what constitutes as a sexual assault must be established. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network⁴ defines sexual assault as “unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling.” For this paper, however, those who complete rape and attempt rape will also be included in the treatment of serial rapists.

Rape rates seemingly dropping

Violent crime rates have been dropping in America over the last 20 years. As such, it is assumed that rape rates are also declining. This is not the case.² While most violent crimes are frequently reported due to the nature of the crime, rape and other sexual assaults are not always reported by victims. It is, therefore, impossible to know exactly how many cases of sexual assault happen each year. However, numerous studies have estimated the percentage of victims that do not report their assault. “Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported”.⁴ Another major issue involved with the reporting of sexual assault and rape is with police departments. In 2014, Yung found that “796,213 to 1,145,309 rapes were not included in the UCR due to police undercounting from 1995 to 2012”.² While there are many reasons for police to under report rape allegations, it is notable that “there have been numerous reports of politics driving police departments to undercount rape”.² The United States has placed a heavy emphasis on decreasing rape incidents. Consequently, police departments feel inclined to undercount these allegations in order to meet the “artificially designated crime benchmarks”.²  Police departments are seeking to decrease the rate of sexual assaults. In this study of police departments undercounting rape allegations, “Professor Jeffrey Bouuffard’s 2000 study of one unnamed police department found that 27.9% of cases were classified as ‘unfounded’’.²

“Further, undercounting results in police failing to fully investigate rape complaints leaving serial rapists, who one study indicates commit an estimated 91% to 95% of all rapes, free to rape, and sometimes murder, more victims”.² This is not a small problem. The number of cities undercounting rape is only increasing,² allowing serial rapists to continue getting away with these crimes. Yung found that police departments use “difficult-to-detect methods to remove rape complaints from official records: designating a complaint as “unfounded” with little or no investigation; classifying an incident as a lesser offense; and, failing to create a written report that a victim made a rape complaint”.² Further, the police in Baltimore have been accused of using “harsh interrogations to intimidate victims as a means to suppress the number of rape complaints” by sexual assault victim support organizations.² This is another issue entirely. Since rape is one of the most under-reported crimes, victims that do come forward must be treated with respect. By interrogating a victim, it is possible he/she may recant their complaint in order to avoid the public’s outrage, especially in cases of elite people being accused of rape. Further, these detectives who are employing especially harsh techniques for speaking to alleged victims are deterring other potential victims from coming forward. “For approximately one-million rapes to disappear from official records is strongly indicative of systematic willful intent”.² There is no way of discounting these instances of undercounting as accidental. There have been too many instances of police departments under-reporting rape in very carefully planned ways in order to avoid detection (Appendix B).

Difference between single and serial rapists

Identifying differences between single-victim rapists and serial rapists can be extremely helpful while evaluating a crime scene. By differentiating between the two types of rapists, law enforcement can appropriately respond to the situation. If there is evidence suggesting that a serial rapist is at work, police can run DNA samples through the lab to link different crime scenes together. Additionally, by identifying similarities between crime scenes, law enforcement may be able to apprehend a culprit more quickly. Not surprisingly, serial rapists are statistically more intelligent and criminally sophisticated. The “average sexual serial rapist is highly intelligent, comes from any walk of life, and tends to blend seamlessly into the community”.⁵ Serial rapists are able to commit multiple crimes because they are not what someone would think of as the average criminal. They are “normal” and blend into society. Serial rapists were “more likely to display criminally sophisticated behaviors than the single-victim rapists, and they displayed more forensic awareness”.⁶ In contrast, “the single rapist does not take any precaution in order to conceal his identity”.⁵ Single-victim rapists are of lesser intelligence and have little forensic awareness. They are more likely to make forceful and obscene comments and belittle the victim. Single-victim rapists “generally belong to those offenders having an antisocial personality disorder”.⁵ It can be argued that these deficiencies seen in single-victim crimes contribute to being caught and possibly keeping them from becoming serial rapists. Although there may be some questions as to whether single-victim rapists were actually serial rapists who happened to be caught after their first offense, the differences in verbalization as well as behaviors can allow law enforcement to distinguish between the two.³ By “showing behaviors such as displaying forensic awareness, controlling the victim’s resistance, and using a surprise attack more frequently, serial rapists did show a higher level of criminal sophistication than did the single-victim offenders”.³ This level of criminal sophistication aids the serial rapists; they are able to continue raping and getting away with these acts due to their ability to evade law enforcement repeatedly. “…The serial rapist is fueled by highly deviant fantasies, is extremely obsessive, is compulsive and programmed, and has a strong tendency to control and humiliate his victims”.⁵

Because of this, serial rapists’ victims are more likely to stay quiet and not report their attacker. When considering elite serial rapists, it becomes clear that victims are less likely to report their attacker due to the power held over the victim to stay quiet. Elite serial rapists use their forensic awareness to manipulate their victim into believing that they cannot be proven guilty due to lack of evidence. For example, he/she may use means of keeping all DNA covered up so a rape kit cannot lead back to him/her. Profiling these rape scenes is incredibly important, especially when determining if it is a single-victim or serial rapist. If additional rapes occur, the single-victim rapist might begin to change his verbalizations and behaviors to “accommodate the circumstances in which he finds himself…His static approach might evolve and become increasingly dynamic”.³ When a perpetrator isn't caught, he can improve his tactics and learn how to better get away with rape by gaining forensic knowledge. There is evidence showing that serial rapists are likely more intelligent beyond their knowledge of forensics. In a study of convicted single-victim rapists and convicted serial rapists, 0% of single-victim rapists held an elite/white collar job. On the other hand, 5.3% of serial rapists held an elite/white collar job.³ While it is unclear exactly what these jobs were, it is worth noting that serial rapists were somewhat more likely to have an occupation that granted them some sort of power/authority.

Biases of the criminal justice system

Although there are multiple biases seen in the criminal justice system, this paper will strictly focus on class in order to maintain validity. This is possible because the perpetrators being examined are of upper-elite status. It has been proven repeatedly that better looking, wealthy defendants are much more likely to get a lesser sentence than if they were to be unattractive and/or of the lower class. On mock jurors in rape cases, defendants with low SES received greater punishment than did defendants with high SES.⁷ Gleason and Harris⁸ believed that this is due to the fact that wealth is viewed as an achieved status. Society in the United States tends to relate a person’s wealth to that person’s stellar reputation, which is related to anomie theory as described by Robert Merton. This leads to Gleason and Harris's conclusion that sexual assault might seem out of character for a wealthy person.⁷ Often times when the rapist has a much higher SES than the victim, as is often the case with elite serial rapists, society’s respect for the offender causes victims, as well as officials, to doubt whether rape or sexual assault has even occurred.⁷ These instances are especially dangerous in terms of the criminal justice system being successful. If jurors are easily manipulated by wealth, it undoubtedly leads to the criminal justice system being unfair and biased.

Conflict theory 

Conflict Theory upholds this schism between classes and explains that the struggle for power between groups causes conflict. Since the upper class is less likely to be convicted because of their status and they also have the financial means to attain proper counsel, they are more likely to receive lesser punishments. This brings the effectiveness of the criminal justice system into question. As previously explained serial rapists are of higher intelligence and because of this, manipulate the judicial system in their favor. The less sophisticated the subjects are, the more likely their interaction with authorities will be characterized by conflict.⁹ By evading conviction, elite serial rapists can perfect their way of committing crimes and continue raping the powerless. Conflict Theory is a Marxist-based theory that interprets society as a struggle for power between groups engaging in conflict. In this theory, the elite are those that are in a position of wealth and power who own the means of production or control access to the means of production. This can be seen with police officers as well as with politicians. When these people become criminals, specifically elite serial rapists, they are able to use their power and influence in society to avoid prosecution. They are much less likely to receive a prison sentence than someone in the working class, as previously discussed. Power not only helps a group to create law in its own interest, but also serves to reduce the chances of members of the group being criminalized.⁹ 

Anomie theory 

Robert Merton explained that, according to Anomie Theory, success is more highly rated than virtue. This means that rather than focusing on a person’s morality, society tends to view a person based on their success. In this context, success refers to wealth, good occupation, and fame. By adopting Merton’s view of Anomie Theory, it is easy to see that elite serial rapists have a good chance of escaping conviction and criminal charges. Since these people are regarded as well-respected members of society, their virtue is not as critically evaluated. Some of these people may be able to avoid detection and conviction for years, due to their status. Anomie theory focuses on the way society is structured and how that structure serves to create deviance within American society. It does not, nor did Merton intend it to, specify the process by which individuals become deviant.⁹

Simpson-bolich theory

The current study will propose a new theory to consider when evaluating elite serial rapists and other similar types of criminals. The Simpson-Bolich Theory suggests an additional mode of adaptation based on Merton’s five identified modes of adaptation. Merton identified the following modes: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. The mode introduced in this paper is called insidious-innovators. This will be helpful to discuss how elite serial rapists begin their lives of crime. These people typically begin as conformists. They accept culturally defined norms and go about the socially legitimate ways of achieving those goals. After those goals are met, however, elite serial rapists push away society’s expectations and turn to a life of crime on the side. They are most likely still conforming to the norms for the majority of the time, but they reject those norms when using their power and influence to sexually assault other people. The insidious-innovator is stealthy, sneaky, and crafty. He commits these crimes in secret and is able to live according to society’s norms in the public eye. This mode of adaptation is the first of its kind. It includes the people that would otherwise be left out of Merton’s modes of adaptation, making it possible to further evaluate elite serial rapists and other criminals that are similar.

The present study will focus on elite serial rapists and their ability to evade prosecution. By analyzing the details of several different serial rapists, it will be possible to make conclusions about the differences between elite and non-elite serial rapists. Five elite serial rapists and five non-elite serial rapists (N=10) will be used in this study to examine the ways that these different types of people commit their crimes. The five elite serial rapists examined are: Daniel Holtzclaw, Michael Bremont, Bill Cosby, Jameis Winston, and Roger Magaña. The five non-elite serial rapists examined are: Herman Whitfield, Kevin Coe, Aaron H. Thomas, Jeffrey Marralis, and Paul Bernardo. In order to evaluate these ten criminals, this paper will use case studies. “Case studies are relatively thorough examinations of specific social settings or particular aspects of social settings, including detailed psychological and behavioral descriptions of persons in those settings”.¹⁰ Additionally, case studies are an effective way of learning rich information about social settings.¹⁰ Since one of the most important parts of this study is determining whether or not a person is considered elite, case studies are the best way of analyzing different serial rapists. As a refresher, for the purpose of this study, elite is defined as a person that has achieved some level of respect in the community, whether it be a result of wealth, occupation, or fame. In order to determine whether or not a serial rapist is elite, this paper will analyze their professions, educational levels, and how they are regarded in their communities. From this, it can be determined whether they are in the elite serial rapist category or the non-elite serial rapist category. While case studies are great for disclosing information about social settings, they are not practical for large-scale studies.¹⁰ For this reason, this study is focusing on ten individuals rather than hundreds of people. While this makes it difficult to make overarching generalizations due to the small scope of people studied, it is important to note that the number of people who are serial rapists is a relatively small number. As a result, there is a better chance that the conclusions made from this study are more likely to be accurate on a larger scale. By using two categories of serial rapists, it becomes easier to see trends that differ between the groups. Within these two separate categories, several variables will be considered. Specific details of each rapist’s crime, sentencing, and social setting will be analyzed. The details examined will include: how many victims each rapist had, how many times accusations were made before action was taken (if it ever was), how many years spanned between the first rape and last rape, and whether there was a conviction or not. If the hypotheses of this paper are proven, analyzing these data will show that elite serial rapists are less likely to be convicted and are more likely to have a longer span of years between rapes. In contrast, non-elite serial rapists are more likely to be convicted and have a shorter span between rapes. In order to analyze the findings, this study will work to codify the data collected in order to create categories that different findings can fit into.¹⁰ “Codifying data greatly simplifies our ability to make sense out of whatever” data are found.¹⁰ By examining case studies, this paper will be able to compare and contrast the individuals being studied. Without a doubt, there will be some obvious differences between each person studied and distinct differences are predicted between the two groups: elite and non-elite serial rapists.

Conflict theory is important while analyzing the differences between these two groups of people. One of the key predicted findings at which this research is aimed is that people that are elite are given more of an opportunity in the criminal justice system. The non-elite are punished more harshly than the elite, even in cases of serial rape. “Since law embodies the values of those who create it, law is also more likely to criminalize the actions of those outside the power group”.⁹ This study tests the theory that people in a position of power, the elite, are able to skirt away from legal action and prosecution. Further, the law and the way it currently works “perpetuate the values embodied in law and thus help keep in power those who already have power”.⁹ The distinction between power groups is key to developing conclusions that support the hypothesis that elite people are able to escape criminal prosecution more often than those who are not elite. By analyzing case studies and the differences between elite and non-elite serial rapists, this study will highlight the ways in which elite criminals are able to exploit a resource-rich system not open to non-elite criminals. While examining these elite and non-elite serial rapists, it is important to note how anomie theory plays a role in analyzing the differences between the groups. Merton’s approach to deviance itself is relatively general.⁹ Anomie theory in general is typically used to describe “the breakdown of social norms and a condition in which those norms no longer control the activity of societal members”.⁹ However, when examining Merton’s modes of adaptation, it becomes clear that he attempts to describe how individuals function in society. These case studies lead to another option that Merton did not address. There are people, namely elite serial rapists that go through their lives as conformists and then turn to a life of crime for one reason or another. By outlining the key differences between elite and non-elite serial rapists, this study will present another mode of adaptation that only elite criminals fall into.

Results 

Analysis of the five elite serial rapists and the five non-elite serial rapists (n=10) showed that non-elite serial rapists are more likely to receive a harsher punishment than elite serial rapists. The average sentence length for elite serial rapists is 119.5 years. This number could be skewed because two of the five elite serial rapists were not sentenced at all. One of them did not have criminal charges brought forth (Winston) while the other is still going through the court process (Cosby). On the other hand, the average sentence length for non-elite serial rapists is 150.4 years. This assumes that life sentences are equivalent to 50 years in prison. Of the five elite serial rapists examined, 60% were convicted (Bremont, Holtzclaw, and Magaña), 20% did not have criminal charges brought forth (Winston), and 20% have charges being investigated currently (Cosby). Further, 60% of these cases had civil suits go forward in order to receive some sort of compensation (Magaña, Winston, Cosby). Each of the non-elite serial rapists were convicted for a rate of 100%. Additionally, none of these cases had civil suits as a result of these crimes (Appendix C). If Cosby is convicted, the average number of victims the elite serial rapists had is 16. This is a rough estimate due to Bill Cosby’s case still being under investigation and the number of definite victims still being unclear. The average number of victims the non-elite serial rapists had was 15. These two numbers are very similar. However, if Cosby is not included in the average for elite serial rapists, the average is 7.5 victims. This could be indicative of the carefulness exhibited by elite serial rapists as to not get caught by victimizing more people. On average, there is an 11.9-year span between the first and last rape for elite serial rapists. The span between the first and last rape for non-elite serial rapists is 10.2 years. The longest span of time between first and last rape for elite serial rapists is 43 years (Cosby) while the longest span for non-elite serial rapists is 22 years (Thomas). The publicity of crimes was extremely high for all of the elite serial rapists. Publicity rates were high for the crimes of 80% of the non-elite serial rapists in this sample. Further, 100% of elite serial rapists were well-regarded in their communities in some way or another, while none of the non-elite serial rapists were respected in some way.

Discussion 

Non-elite serial rapists are more likely to receive a harsher sentence than those considered elite. As stated, the average non-elite sentence was 150.4 years, while for the elite it was 119.5 years. Further, Winston was never criminally charged. There are multiple variables that could explain why this might be, but a strong argument is that the elite simply have more power than the non-elite. As stated previously, conflict theory explains that the upper-class is less likely to be convicted because of their status and because they have the financial means to attain proper counsel; the elite serial rapists therefore have a much greater chance of receiving a lesser sentence. In the cases of Cosby and Winston, their wealth has given them the advantage of “paying off” victims, hoping to keep their victims from going to the police and filing a criminal report. This “code of silence” has come to be expected as a perk that accompanies high status. Often times, the elite are more successful in terms of American society. This, alongside their wealth, contributes to their disregard for virtue. In theory, virtue trumps success. But by focusing heavily on a person’s success, it is difficult to determine what kind of person they truly are. With a society that emphasizes well-structured goals for its members and equally structured avenues to reach those goals, deviance becomes any behavior that does not follow commonly accepted values.⁹ From this, it is easy to see how elite serial rapists can escape conviction; they are perceived as successful people that are not able to do harm to others. The findings in this paper shown in Appendices C and D support this theory. The elite serial rapists’ professions of police officers, high school administrator, entertainer, and NFL quarterback paint the image of success and therefore innocence. 80% of the elite serial rapists had some post-high school education which contributed to their success, as well as to how they were evaluated by others. Conflict theory explains that due to the higher intelligence seen in elite serial rapists, they possess more power in society and thus are able to get away with things that the powerless cannot. In contrast, only 40% of non-elite serial rapists received any higher education. This lack of higher education could also be related to the non-elite serial rapists’ inability to get a lenient sentence. On the other hand, elite serial rapists have a status within society that causes people to find it difficult to believe that they can commit such heinous crimes. Because power can be equated with resources, it seems evident that those who are higher up in the social class structure will be the more powerful members of society.⁹ In this study, the case of Paul Bernardo supports the Simpson-Bolich theory, which stems from Merton’s modes of adaptation. Not only was Bernardo from an upper class family, he also received his bachelor’s and was a rather successful marketer for Amway. Due to these things, it is unclear why Bernardo abandoned the culturally accepted ways to act and began committing sexual assaults. As an insidious-innovator, he started life accepting culturally defined norms and the socially legitimate ways of achieving those goals, only to later push away these expectations and fulfill his desire for deviance. Bernardo was not an elite serial rapist in accordance with the definitions of elite for this paper’s purpose; he was not powerful, wealthy, or well-regarded in the community, even though he had all of the means to become elite. However, in the Simpson-Bolich theory, Bernardo would still be considered an insidious-innovator (Appendix D).

In addition to Bernardo fitting into the Simpson-Bolich model, Bremont is an excellent example of an insidious-innovator. Michael Bremont grew up in an upper-middle class family with access to education. As far as anyone could tell, Bremont was an exemplary citizen and a great high school administrator, contributing to his lenient sentence. While he had countless ties to his community, he chose to turn away from societal norms and become devious. For the majority of his life so far, he was a conformist who seemed to be doing well according to all standards of American society. However, for some reason, he rejected those norms eventually and began creating his own ways of maneuvering through life. Unlike Bernardo, Bremont is considered elite for the purposes of this paper. Despite this difference, the two have one thing very much in common: they are both insidious-innovators. The limitations of this study make it challenging to derive any fully accurate conclusions about the differences between elite serial rapists and non-elite serial rapists. Since this research was conducted using case studies, it was difficult to examine a large number of serial rapists, both elite and non-elite. Further, finding information about some of the offenders was nearly impossible, especially on non-elite serial rapists. By conducting a closer examination into the lives of these people prior to their lives of crime, significant differences between the elite and non-elite may become apparent. In order to take this research to the next level and find more concrete examples of elite serial rapists using their power to exploit the non-elite, one must create a large-scale study that examines every factor of the offender’s life, including his/her personal background. Finally, another complication with this study is how charges and cases have been covered up over a long period of time. Finding every serial rapist, both elite and non-elite, is a daunting task; finding elite serial rapists that have not been officially charged and have used financial resources as hush money is even more difficult. Overall, this study has illuminated the difference in treatment, sentencing, and believed guilt between elite and non-elite serial rapists. These are important factors to note within the criminal justice system. The United States is thought to have a fair, just system that allows each person the right to trial. However, it becomes clear from this study that those who have some level of higher status, or are elite, are able to commit crimes just as heinous as the non-elite and have a better chance of receiving lesser penalties. Reformation, in some form or another, needs to take place in order to minimize the chances of these things happening.

Biographies of elite serial rapists

Elite serial rapist 1: Daniel Holtzclaw was born December 10, 1986 to police officer parents. Holtzclaw is half-white and half-Japanese. He attended Eastern Michigan University where he was a football star. After attaining a criminal justice degree, he joined the Oklahoma City police department and followed in his parents’ footsteps. Beginning in 2013, Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting women. These accusations were only taken seriously when Holtzclaw assaulted a 57-year-old woman after pulling her over in his patrol vehicle on June 18, 2014. He ultimately had 13 victims come forward, prepared to testify against the former police officer in trial. After Holtzclaw’s arrest in 2014, the police department found a previous report of sexual abuse conducted by an unknown police officer. There was no action taken at that time and the report was not investigated. However, after Holtzclaw’s arrest, there was an investigation into the older report. It was determined that the officer who abused the victim had to be on a specific route. As they delved further into it, they established that it was, in fact, Holtzclaw who was on this route and sexually abused the accuser. Throughout the investigation, the prosecution claimed that Holtzclaw chose women with some sort of criminal history as to eliminate their credibility. He was convicted in December, 2015 and sentenced to 263 years in prison.

Elite serial rapist 2: Roger Magaña, born in 1963, is a former police officer from Eugene, Oregon. Magaña’s criminal investigation sparked controversy within the Eugene Police Department. Magaña was accused and convicted of an offense involving forcible/compelled sexual acts with a young girl prior to working for the police department. When choosing to hire Magaña, the police department neglected to run a full background check. In normal circumstances, a background check showing this type of criminal history would eliminate a candidate from working for the police department. After he began working for the PD, there were multiple accusations made against Magaña, beginning in 1997 and ending in 2003. All in all, there were over 15 complaints made by 15 different women. 23 different officers were aware of these allegations, as well as a chief of police and the director of human resources. These reports were either ignored or met with skepticism. Magaña was finally arrested and charged in 2003 due to one victim’s persistence. This victim continued to make complaints to the police department until they were forced to take her seriously and conduct an investigation. One of the reasons these victims were not believed is undoubtedly due to their status. Magaña carefully chose victims that were “impossible to believe” due to their drug and alcohol problems. After a thorough investigation was conducted, Magaña was convicted and sentenced to 94 years in prison in July of 2004.

Elite serial rapist 3: William Henry “Bill” Cosby has been an American icon due to his career in acting, stand-up comedy, and writing. He has been well known since the 1960s as an actor, frequently appearing in television shows and starring in his own. Cosby got married in 1964 to Camille Cosby and the two are still married today. However, Cosby has been accused by dozens of women of sexual assault, ranging from rape to child sexual abuse. These allegations began in 1965 but were not publicized or known about until recently due to an allegation made in October of 2014. The 1965 complaint against Cosby was made by Kristina Ruehli. She stated that Cosby drugged and assaulted her in his Beverly Hills home. She allegedly told her boyfriend about the incident at that time and told her daughter about the incident in the 1980s. While these allegations have not all been proven, in July 2015, Cosby admitted to using Quaaludes with a series of young women and admitted that his use of drugs was illegal. Further, it has been proven that Cosby paid off several women in order to keep them from talking to the press or taking criminal action against him. As of November, 2015, eight civil lawsuits are active relating to Cosby’s actions. In December, 2015, criminal charges were issued in Pennsylvania. These charges are still working their way through the criminal justice system and his guilt/innocence has not yet been established.

Elite serial rapist 4: Michael Bremont, born January 20, 1973, went to school for his teaching degree. He began his career as a math teacher in Oregon. From 2002-2007, Bremont was a school administrator in Linn County. During the 2005-2006 school year, Bremont sexually abused a 17-year-old student. The student was living with Bremont and his family on the high school’s campus. After the student graduated, she moved out. The school and teachers were all aware of Bremont and the student being close and suspected that something was going on, but when they approached him he denied any involvement that was unprofessional. At that time, the school dropped it and did not pursue an investigation. In 2007, Bremont took a job in the Redmond School District as the assistant principal. Two years later, in 2009, he founded the Redmond Proficiency Academy and was named the executive director of the high school. From 2009-2010, Bremont sexually abused another student. This student was 15 years old and came forward with allegations in early 2012. When these allegations were made and the student from Linn County heard about them, she went to the police and filed a criminal complaint as well. The investigation led to a conviction and Bremont was sentenced to 19 months in prison. He was eligible for parole after 15 months and was released.

Elite serial rapist 5: Jameis Winston was born January 6, 1994 in Alabama. He was a highly regarded quarterback in high school, leading his team to the state championship as a junior. Winston went to college at Florida State where he was a successful baseball and football player. In the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston was first overall pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While at FSU in December of 2012, a sexual assault allegation was filed with the Tallahassee Police Department. The complaint was made inactive when the victim broke off contact with the police and her lawyer said she didn’t want to move forward at the time. The victim developed bruises and semen was found on her underwear; 34 days later the victim identified Winston as her attacker. No DNA sample was taken from Winston until the prosecutor took over the case months later in November 2013; Winston’s DNA was a confirmed match to the semen found on the complainant’s underwear. In December of 2014 at an FSU hearing, Justice Major B. Harding cleared Winston of violating the student conduct code in the sexual assault allegation. Erica Kinsman, the victim, filed a civil suit against Winston in April 2014. Winston countersued her for defamation and tortious interference. The trial was set to begin in May 2017, although Kinsman settled with FSU paying her $950,000; only a separate battery charge will proceed. In 2016, the university paid almost a million dollars to settle the lawsuit.

Biographies of non-elite serial rapists

Non-elite serial rapist 1: Herman Whitfield was born in 1970 and began his life of crime at only 22 years old. Initially, Whitfield was convicted of kidnapping in 1994 and served 12 years in prison. Houston police had thousands of rape kits backlogged and did not have the personnel required to test these kits. However, when the police department finally did start testing the DNA obtained in these kits, they linked Whitfield to four rapes between 1992-1994 and 2006-2009. The gap in between these alleged rapes was due to his time in prison. In 2009, Whitfield was sent back to prison on a parole violation. After further investigation, police linked Whitfield to 21 cases and proved that he had 12 different victims. Whitfield was convicted in September of 2015 and given four life terms as his sentence. His victims ranged in age, with the youngest being only 12 years old.

Non-elite serial rapist 2: At the time of his arrest, Aaron H. Thomas was an unemployed truck driver from Connecticut. Thomas was born in 1972 and is said to have had very few close relationships throughout his life. Many accusations were made against Thomas beginning in 1997 when he was 25 years old. Police were on the hunt for Thomas until 2009, yet he was not arrested or charged with anything until March 4, 2011. Thomas surprised his victims and used a weapon of some sort, typically a knife or gun. This made it challenging for victims to identify their attacker. After his arrest, law enforcement was able to prove his guilt with 12 victims. His conviction led to a hefty sentencing that continued to have time added on. After all the charges were accounted for, he ended up being sentenced to 8 life terms and an additional 80 years in prison, ensuring that he will never be eligible for parole. 11 of his victims were African American and one was Caucasian.

Non-elite serial rapist 3: Paul Bernardo was born August 27, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario to a wealthy, but dysfunctional family. His real father was a man that his mother had an affair with, but Bernardo didn’t know this until he was sixteen years old. His stepfather ran a tile business and was abusive to Bernardo and his two siblings. He graduated from Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute opting to work for Amway. Later he attended University of Toronto Scarborough where his dark fantasies began to arise; he enjoyed humiliating women in public and beat up the women he dated. In October 1987, he met Karla Homolka who encouraged his sadistic sexual behavior and also encouraged his acts which led to his nickname the “Scarborough Rapist.” Most of his victims were women he followed home from the bus. Bernardo’s first rape was in 1987 against a 21-year-old woman that he had followed home. Eleven more rapes occurred over the span of three years until in 1990 two police detectives interviewed Bernardo two months after receiving tips that he fit the Scarborough rapist description. When he was interviewed, he gave samples for forensic testing and because of his willingness to cooperate, the detectives concluded that someone as well-educated and friendly could not be responsible for such heinous crimes; he was released the following day. Bernardo later was convicted of a number of offenses including two first-degree murders and two aggravated sexual assaults leading to a sentence of life without parole for 25 years. Homolka assisted Bernardo throughout the attacks and even participated in some. In an interview in 1993, she told police Bernardo once bragged that he had raped as many as 30 women. Justice Campbell found the lack of coordination and communications among police and other parts of the criminal justice system contributed to a dangerous serial predator “falling through the cracks.”

Non-elite serial rapist 4: Frederick Harlan Coe was born on February 2, 1947 in Spokane, Washington. His father Gordon Coe was the managing editor of the Spokane Chronicle, who was in charge of a program to receive tips on the rapes allegedly committed by the “South Hill rapist” between 1978 and 1981. Due to a “signature” of rammed fingers down the victim’s throats, police believed all of the rapes were the work of a single offender; Coe who was also known as “Kevin,” targeted female joggers and women that rode the city bus. After being identified in photo lineups, Coe was arrested on six charges of first degree rape, even though police believed he was responsible for at least 43 rapes. In Coe’s original trial in 1981, he was convicted on four of the six charges of rape, but three years later the Washington Supreme Court tossed out all of the convictions because many of the victims had been hypnotized before identifying him. In a retrial a year later, he was again convicted on three counts and sentenced to life plus 55 years. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court again overturned two because of the hypnotizing but upheld one giving him a 25 year sentence at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. He later was diagnosed with a personality disorder not otherwise specified, along with narcissistic and antisocial traits.

Non-elite serial rapist 5: Going by the name “Dr. Jeff” in his online profile, Marsalis faked many identities from trauma surgeon to astronaut. Seeming like the perfect guy, Marsalis would trick women into going on dates with him where he would then drug them and rape them. The 21 victims in Philadelphia didn’t go the police right away, trying to believe that nothing had actually happened. Ten of these cases were prosecuted in two trials in 2006 and 2007, but Marsalis was found not guilty at both. Then in 2009, Marsalis once again faced charges of rape in Sun Valley, Idaho where another woman came forward with her story of being drugged and raped. Jody, the victim, went directly to the police and hospital for a rape kit after the attack, allowing enough evidence for Marsalis to be found guilty of rape and given a life sentence.

Elite serial rapists table

Non-elite serial rapists table

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