Man accused of sex crimes near campus

Raydell Luke, the man prosecutors believe is responsible for a series of sex crimes in University City, faces trial on charges of attempted rape and burglary today. 36-year-old Luke of North Philadelphia was arrested in January and charged with raping a University employee in her 41st and Spruce Street home on December 30. He was tried on that charge in August and was found not guilty. But after his arrest by University Police, the Philadelphia Police Sex Crimes division linked Luke to three other alleged sexual assaults near campus. "He's been doing this for years," said Assistant District Attorney Jeanette Synnestvedt. "I can call in every cop from the 18th [the University's district] and they know who he is. He's been preying upon that area for . . . two to three years." Prosecutors will try to show today that in 1988, Luke beat, robbed and attempted to rape a CHOP doctor in her home near campus. He is also charged with the attempted rape of a young woman walking home from a University event in May 1990 and the indecent assault of a disabled woman in the lobby of her apartment in December. And Assistant DA Synnestvedt said these charges are "just the tip of the iceberg." Luke, of the 1600 block of Cecil B. Moore Street, will be tried before a jury, which will be selected along with a trial judge today. If convicted of the attempted rape of the doctor, he could face five to 10 years in jail. Luke, born and raised in the Philadelphia housing projects, has been unable to make his $25,000 bail. Synnestvedt said Luke climbed up a tree to the second floor window of the CHOP doctor's house and attacked her as she stepped out of the shower. He pushed her to the ground and beat the naked woman, and then put his finger in her vagina, unzipped his pants, and positioned her to begin raping her, according to the district attorney. Synnestvedt said yesterday that the only thing that saved the doctor from being raped was that she told Luke she had AIDS. The woman, who does not have the disease, chased Luke out of the apartment to the second floor porch, from which he jumped to the ground. Police and prosecutors said the 36-year-old Luke also attacked a young woman late one rainy night in May 1990 while she was walking home from a University event. Luke followed the woman for "quite some distance," Synnestvedt said. "He said he wanted to have sex with her in crude language." The woman, who Synnestvedt says "got a good look at him," and eventually identified Luke in a line-up two or three months later, was able to fight off her attacker on the 4500 block of Locust Street. Luke is charged with attempted rape and related charges in this case. In a fourth case, the district attorney's office has charged Luke with the indecent assault and robbery of a disabled woman in the lobby of her apartment building. According to Philadelphia Police, the woman entered her room where Luke, who had followed her in, pulled a knife on her. He robbed her and then put his hands inside her shirt, according to Synnestvedt. Trials for the attempted rape of the young woman and the separate indecent assault will begin after the conclusion of tomorrow's attempted rape trial. Synnestvedt said that when police searched his apartment, they found "a warehouse" full of electronic equipment, including video cassette recorders, radios and televisions. Synnestvedt said that the cases must be tried separately because they are not similar enough in circumstances. University Police caught Luke after the alleged December 30 rape after detectives noticed similarities in how the woman's attacker entered her apartment and other attempted burglaries in the area. Police said her assailant climbed up her fire escape and came in through the window. Detectives showed the victim photos of Luke, who was arrested in November climbing on fire escapes, and she identified him as her attacker. The alleged victim broke down during the trial and failed to identify Luke as her attacker, but Sex Crimes detectives were able to charge Luke with the other assaults.

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