Police are investigating a pattern of rapes identified in Denver and surrounding areas, officials said Thursday, though they stopped short of using the term “serial rapist.”
“Yes, there is a sexual-assault pattern, and it could be the same person,” said Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman. “There’s an active investigation.”
While The Post obtained information that one Denver detective was gathering data on nine sexual assaults, creating a poster board highlighting the locations, Whitman declined Thursday to confirm that number, the locations of the assaults or what factors linked them.
“There’s no specific area or neighborhood,” he said. “That’s why we’re having maps done.”
Whitman said police would release more information about the cases today at a news conference.
Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe said he was aware of a string of sexual assaults after a conversation with Whitman on Thursday morning but did not yet know the details.
“I know it’s a few jurisdictions,” LaCabe said, “because it’s a joint press conference.”
News of another potential serial rapist in Denver follows in the wake of the recent sentencing of Brent J. Brents, convicted of nine sexual assaults in Denver and Aurora from September to February.
Brents was sentenced July 6 in Denver and July 8 in Aurora to a total of more than 1,500 years in prison for the sexual assaults and other crimes, including nearly beating a woman to death.
On Feb. 15, Whitman first identified a pattern in five sexual assaults committed within four days of one another in nearby neighborhoods. All were later attributed to Brents.
On Feb. 16, Whitman announced that Brents, convicted of raping two children in 1988 and released from prison in July 2004, had been identified as the suspect through a DNA match. A massive manhunt began that continued until Brents’ capture in Glenwood Springs on Feb. 18.
Staff writer Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820- 1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com.
