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Rape trial under way

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By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: October 28, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - A man charged with raping a woman in 2008 won't be able to confront his accuser at trial this week.

The woman died of a drug overdose in May.

James Christian Cregger, 38, is charged with sexual battery and faces up to 15 years in prison. He is accused of raping the 36-year-old woman in a backyard at a New Port Richey house.

The Tribune does not identify sex crime victims.

Investigators arrested Cregger on Sept. 8, 2008, based on DNA test results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Assistant State Attorney Chris Jensen said Tuesday in his opening statement.

Defense attorney Dennis Watson argued in his opening that the sex between Cregger and the woman was consensual.

The prosecution's case rests mostly on the testimony of Cregger's ex-wife, Deena LaRossa, and three others who saw Cregger and the woman in the wee hours of July 4, 2008.

The four drove up on Cregger and the woman walking on Adams Street between 2 and 3 a.m. Deena LaRossa testified Tuesday that her then-husband, Philip LaRossa, stopped their van and spoke with Cregger.

Deena LaRossa said the woman with Cregger looked at her and mouthed the words, "Help me, please. Please don't leave me." The woman walked to the passenger side and got in the van. "She repeatedly, over and over, says, 'He raped me. He raped me.'"

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (813) 731-8098.

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