Husband Arranged Wife's Rape On Craigslist: Police

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A North Carolina husband used the online advertising service Craigslist to enlist a man to rape his wife in the couple's home, police said Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Kannapolis man faces first-degree rape and other charges. The Associated Press, which generally does not identify victims of sexual assault, is not naming the man to avoid identifying his wife.

His wife called 911 early Sunday morning and said a man with a knife raped her in the bedroom of their home in Kannapolis, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, authorities said. Her husband was in the room, police said. Their two young children were also home, but were unaware of what was happening, authorities said.

The husband sought someone in the ads to come to his home and have sex with his wife using "scare tactics," police said. It was without her knowledge or consent, police said.

Authorities are still investigating the identity of the man who attacked the woman and it wasn't known if the husband paid him to do it. The woman was not seriously injured, but was treated at a hospital and released.

Investigators turned their suspicions to the husband after his statement didn't add up and because there were no signs the attacker broke into the home. The husband was jailed Wednesday on $200,000 bond.

"We share the public's horror that such a crime was committed, and our heart goes out to the victim," said Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.

The online classified site had been criticized for its "erotic services" section, which Craigslist agreed to do away with last month after a Boston medical student, deemed "the Craigslist killer," was charged with killing a woman he met on the site.

A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced last month to 29 years in prison for raping a woman who advertised in the section.

Comments

[MadHeart]

07:12 PM on 06/04/2009

This puts an entirely new twist on the story. It seems the husband never placed his own ad (from ABC News):

"She was definitely not a willing participant," Kannapolis Police Capt. Chuck Adams told ABCNews.com today. "The children were in a bedroom across the hallway, maybe 15 to 20 feet away."

Adams said the woman's husband Travis -- ABCNews.com is withholding his last name to protect his wife's identity because she is a sex crime victim -- responded to two Craigslist sex advertisements asking if the men would be willing to rape his wife, Adams said.

(The story further says that the Secret Service has the husband's computer and an arrest of a man who lived in the area of the crime is imminent.)

[greenmonk]

05:03 PM on 06/04/2009

There has been an effort to demonize Craigs List by the right wingnuts simply because Craig keeps his site commercial free, and doesn't charge for the service. As well he fends off buyers who offer huge sums. My gawd, he is refusing to play the capitalist game!!

Like someone else said, it could just as easily come from a newspaper ad or another message board or chat room. Craigs List is one of the few stalwarts on the net that are going against the grain of a movement by corporate America to charging people for access.

[MikeRdg]

06:37 PM on 06/04/2009

most peoples comments were on the hubby and the journalist, not Craigs List. So why is Craigs list being on defensive and drawing more attention to themselves?

[jobecky20]

04:49 PM on 06/04/2009

So I assume both men will be charged with rape? I hope she gets a divorce and quick!

[inthecolour]

04:34 PM on 06/04/2009

I have never heard of such a thing before.

Every day, humans surprise me with the kind of crap they can be capable of-- good or bad.

[formerprosecutor]

04:12 PM on 06/04/2009

And even more strenge, I have tried to place an ad for some puppies that I fostered from an aquaintence that went overseas.
"The Community" kept flagging my ad off, because ( I suppose ) they thought I was a breeder (even though they were mixed breed puppies and free)
I guess that they care more about puppies than ads for violent crime applicants

[bugsbonzai]

04:11 PM on 06/04/2009

I have a feeling that all this hostility towards Craigslist is coming from newspaper owners employees angry that Craigslist has destroyed their classified section by daring to give away for free what they had been charging people in excess for years. Just a hunch.

[MadHeart]

06:43 PM on 06/04/2009

The hostility is toward the freaks and sociopaths who hang out there. It's sad that Craigslist has allowed itself to become a purveyor for anything and everything. There are plenty of websites that cater to these people. Why does Craigslist feel it has to accommodate anyone and everyone?

[formerprosecutor]

04:04 PM on 06/04/2009

Ironically, I have prosecuted newspapers for publishing ads that say "adults only" "married couples only"or "English speaking community" (yes that is true) for housing / real estate. Because it is a violation of the law.
Should it not be illegal to publish advertising that seeks an illegal act? If he advertsied for a hit man, we would be all over him, and the publisher.

Think on this

[HekmabaJuzimax]

06:08 PM on 06/04/2009

Yes, of course you're right. If you violate the law you should be....wait, my head is throbbing.

[MikeRdg]

06:39 PM on 06/04/2009

There is a responsibility formerprosecutor, the problems is many of our prosecutors today are compromised-- money over reason is the moral code.

[Agent420]

03:41 PM on 06/04/2009

It's the South, maybe the guy was related.

[hugs4u]

04:37 PM on 06/04/2009

In the south everyone is related.

[Elias Zuniga]

03:31 PM on 06/04/2009

Wow! This guy must have watched Law & Order SVU episode from a couple of weeks back.

[formerprosecutor]

03:50 PM on 06/04/2009

I noted that also.

[prgrsvmama26]

03:09 PM on 06/04/2009

I HATE articles about any rape that say "the woman was not seriously injured". Yes, she f'ing was, she was RAPED! That is a physical and mental and emotional injury that NEVER heals back to normal. I would bet my house that the author of this piece is a man. A woman would know better, in my opinion.

[BlueZoo]

03:37 PM on 06/04/2009

Thank heaven someone else recognized this horrible phrasing! The disconnect from having been raped never leaves women and there is a mental struggle everyday. I found the use of that phrase stunningly disgusting!

[HekmabaJuzimax]

06:10 PM on 06/04/2009

What they meant was that no prosthetic devices were used, and that no animals were harmed in the taping.

[LeslieLou]

03:47 PM on 06/04/2009

I was just about to post the same thing!
I'd also like to add that we truly have no business criticizing how women are treated in other countries when crap like this happens in America every effing day. Well...we do, but perhaps we could try to right the wrongs here first.

[NYLady646]

02:37 PM on 06/04/2009

This guy is sick, sick, sick. Some people should not have access to the internet.

[formerprosecutor]

04:42 PM on 06/04/2009

hopefully, he won't in the near future.

[nuclearmonkeys]

05:33 PM on 06/04/2009

They have heavily restricted internet access in prison, which is where I'm assuming he's headed.

[JustThisGuy]

01:34 PM on 06/04/2009

Remember, if you life forceful or roleplay sex, make sure that you and the other person have an agreed on safeword. If you are using a 3rd party to make arrangements, you are trusting them with your fate.

[jsimpy]

01:24 PM on 06/04/2009

People! Please.

Individuals place these ads. Craigslist is only a conduit. Don't blame the conduit, blame the people. Classified ads in newspapers resulted in the same type of actions.

[springer23]

02:57 PM on 06/04/2009

same with guns!!

[drumz]

03:16 PM on 06/04/2009

Hardly. Craigslist wasn't created to kill people.

[formerprosecutor]

04:08 PM on 06/04/2009

So, we shouldn't include the "messenger" in the furthering of the conspriracy?

[Patriot til Death]

04:27 PM on 06/04/2009

...No more than the creators of the tools to deliver it. Al Gore is not responsible for this event.

[DawnLA]

01:06 PM on 06/04/2009

People are so angry at Craigslist, yet not too many people have commented on the fact that a husband paid someone to vio.la.te the mother of his children. While the children were in the other room, while he was in the room. Craigslist is the least of the problems with this incident.

[CR46]

01:25 PM on 06/04/2009

So true. The poor women raped while her so-called husband watched, in her own home which adds to the violation and while her children were close by(she may have even been afraid to cry out for help), worried they might come in and get hurt in some way. The trauma she will have to live with and deal with forever. The trust issues that will stay with her forever and all most people are commenting on is Craigs list.

[formerprosecutor]

04:09 PM on 06/04/2009

The damage is incredible. ripples in a pond. think ahead to what she is going to tell her children; and how they will view themselves as his children. it will never end.

[SoCalNick]

12:35 PM on 06/04/2009

Something to THINK about!!

Craigslist is doing NOTHING that NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES have not been doing for a CENTURY!

Craigslist ALONE helped END the Newspaper / news weekly classified ads business and they are NOT HAPPY about it at all.

This recent rush of horrible press about CL is simply PAYBACK!

[poster1122]

01:45 PM on 06/04/2009

Well, that's not exactly true. In the case of the "Craigslist killer", I do think Craigslist was being singled out particularly unfairly.

However, in this case, it really depends on the post. If the husband actually posted up an ad explicitly requesting the rape of his wife, then that's different. Newspapers, however poorly they execute it, have some editorial filter and standards they impose on ads. When they fail to filter out the most serious stuff (remember that ad that obliquely wished Obama were assassinated?), they get called out for it.

[stepintothelight]

03:19 PM on 06/04/2009

Read the crap they allow in the Rant's and Raves section. For this alone I hope Craigslist goes the way of the Dodo bird!!!

[bugsbonzai]

04:06 PM on 06/04/2009

Don't disparage the memory of your now extinct cousin.