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Police Seek Other Crimes Linked To Suspect In 6 Rapes

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By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

TAMPA - Local sex-crimes investigators said they have issued a nationwide alert through an FBI system to learn whether a serial rape suspect has victimized women beyond the Bay area.
DNA evidence links Jerrod Pass, 38, of Clewiston to six rapes and the attempted rape of a seventh woman, investigators said. These attacks and a related burglary all occurred about two miles west of the University of South Florida during 2003, 2004 and this year, investigators said.

As of Tuesday, Tampa police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office have charged Pass with multiple counts of felony sexual battery, among other charges. They now hope to build a timeline of Pass' whereabouts before 2003 and during the three years when he appears to have left Tampa.

Search On For Other Victims

The similarities of the linked attacks - in which the intruder entered through an unlocked door or window, threatened nearby children and kept the women's belongings as souvenirs - indicate there are other victims, Tampa police sex-crimes Sgt. Paul Mumford said.

'Individuals don't suddenly start and suddenly stop,' Mumford said. 'We believe that Mr. Pass is involved in other offenses. We would like to know his whereabouts during the time frame he wasn't in the city of Tampa.'

Pass is being held without bail at Orient Road Jail. The cases in which he is charged involve women ranging in age from 16 to 37, according to police and the sheriff's office.

The earliest attack occurred Aug. 16, 2003, according to an arrest affidavit police released Tuesday. A Tampa woman awoke to see a man later identified as Pass next to her bed; he placed a hand over her mouth and tightened a belt around her throat before she fought him off, yelling for help, the affidavit states. The intruder took her purse and briefcase, but left his shoes, from which investigators extracted a DNA sample, the document states.

Mumford said Pass attacked this woman again Oct. 10, 2003. An affidavit states she awoke to feel someone placing duct tape over her mouth, threw punches, screamed and scurried free. As she fled, she recognized the intruder as the man from the previous attack, police said.

Police on Tuesday charged Pass with the Sept. 28, 2003, repeated rape of a 16-year-old and the July 15, 2004, rape of another woman. In both instances, Pass threatened the victims' children, who were sleeping nearby, affidavits state.

The sheriff's office has charged Pass in attacks from Aug. 22, 2003; July 1, 2004; and June 14 and Aug. 19 of this year. Pass also is charged in an April 14 burglary.

The sheriff's office arrested Pass on Sept. 22 in connection with the June 14 case after forensic tests found that a cheek swab Pass gave to a detective during a neighborhood canvass matched the DNA of the rape suspect.

Hillsborough County sheriff's Detective Geoffrey Harris said he first encountered Pass during the week of Aug. 28, as investigators swarmed North 14th Street, near Lexington Avenue, for leads.

Detectives stopped whoever was in the area during early-morning hours and asked them about a series of break-ins, Harris said. 'We were leaving it vague, just saying it was part of a burglary investigation,' he said.

DNA Sample Willingly Given

Detectives questioned 55 people that week, Harris said. Pass was one of 12 who couldn't say they were in jail during the attack or who previously hadn't supplied DNA to a national database because of certain requirements under state law.

Pass willingly supplied a DNA sample when asked, Harris said. 'He offered no resistance whatsoever. He was cooperative.'

Since Pass' arrest, investigators have tracked his phone calls from jail, Harris said. They found a storage unit he had rented at Metro Self-Storage, 1821 E. Fletcher Ave., after Pass asked a female friend to move his belongings because he could no longer pay the rent, Harris said.

Detectives searched the storage unit under a warrant and found panties, purses, mail, driver's licenses and identification cards belonging to the women who were attacked.

Joe Navarro, a retired FBI criminal profiler, said it is common for serial attackers 'to keep trophies.'

'This is a way of looking at their scoreboard,' Navarro said Tuesday. 'Rape is about violence and conquering and having the power of God over people. It's a reminder of an achievement, however sick that is.'

News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos and Tribune reporter Chris Echegaray contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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