A serial rapist that stalked and attacked at least nine girls and women in the 1970s and '80s is set to be released from an Oregon prison in the northwest U.S. in mid-December.
Richard Gillmore, arrested in 1986 and called the "jogger rapist” because he tracked victims as he ran by their homes, admitted to raping nine girls in the Portland area in the 1970s and 80s but was only convicted in one case because of the statute of limitations. In 1987, a jury found him guilty of raping 13-year-old Tiffany Edens, his last known victim, in December 1986.
The Associated Press (AP) generally does not name people who have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly. Edens has spoken out about the assault and recently wrote on social media that she received a voicemail in August from the state’s Victim Information and Notification Service telling her of his impending release.
"I have been slowly processing the reality of it all,” she wrote.
The Oregonian, citing prison officials, reported that Gillmore was transferred in August from Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla to the minimum-security Columbia River Correctional Institution in Portland to help him prepare for his re-entry into the community. He will be 63 at the time of his release in December.
KOIN, which first reported his upcoming release, said Gillmore will remain under supervision until 2034 and could be sent back to prison if he violates his parole.
A judge in the Edens case sentenced Gillmore to at least 30 years in prison with a 60-year maximum. But a parole board cut his sentence in half in 1988, the year after he was convicted.
Danielle Tudor, who has said she was a teenager when Gillmore raped her in 1979, has spoken out against his release.
"If he had been able to have been charged for all the rapes he committed, he’d never be getting out,” Tudor told KOIN.
Gillmore has been classified as a sex offender at the lowest risk of reoffending. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life due to his rape conviction, but the classification means the state and county aren’t required to notify surrounding residents that he’s living near them.
His victims are angered that Gillmore isn’t considered a high-risk sex offender, which would require notification to the community wherever he lives or moves.
The Oregonian reported that Tudor said she didn’t understand why he was being classified as a low-level sex offender.
"He was designated as a dangerous offender at trial,” Tudor said.
