Ikeie Ranordo Smith is the man police say was behind dozens of sexual assaults that took place in Wayne County, Michigan. He has been arrested and is being held, but the investigation is continuing, with allegations of 35 separate instances of home invasion and rape on record so far.
According to police, the victims are all women, but not all of them were sexually assaulted. Some were able to get away before that happened. A woman from Dearborn Heights was nearly raped when her attacker climbed through a window after her mother went to work and climbed into bed with her. He told her that if she moved he would kill her, but she screamed and ran. In the end she was able to get away.
Investigators say that the incidents stretch back as far as 2011, and took place in at least eight law enforcement jurisdictions, including Midland, Garden City, Dearborn, and Detroit. Do police know for certain that Smith is the perpetrator in every one these assaults? The answer is no, they do not.
After the recent sexual assault in Garden City, where a woman was raped in her bed, police were able to get a DNA match to Smith. With regards to the other crimes, police are not yet certain, and so far Smith is only a suspect in these crimes. According to Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad, his detectives believe that Smith was the perpetrator of at least three cases around the city, but suspect there were actually many more assaults in the greater Detroit area that could be connected to Smith.
“There were just some characteristics about the way the crimes were committed that a lot of our smart detectives came together and said, ‘yeah, these were most likely the same’” Chief Haddad explained to media sources. He also says that FBI criminal investigators are certain that Smith fits the profile of a “power reassurance rapist.” This term refers to someone who attacks their victims in order to compensate for low self-confidence.
Interestingly, a “power reassurance rapist” is commonly referred to as a “gentleman rapist.” The profile states that the attacker uses “peeping tom” methods to preselect a victim and then attacks with no warning, “blitz” style. However, it also claims that the attacker uses minimal violence and aggression and rarely harms the victim. The rape is done, according to the profile, as a means of restoring self confidence and overcoming insecurity.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutor Kym Worthy is expecting to bring a substantial number of charges against Smith in the near future. At this time however, she is still waiting for the detectives in various jurisdictions to complete their individual investigations.
We would like to remind our readers that sexual assault is an extremely serious crime in Michigan. Anyone convicted of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct is facing at up to life behind bars. The experienced sex crimes attorneys at The Kronzek Firm say that the key to successfully defending these rape cases is early and thorough preparation for trial. Literally hundreds of hours are spend to prepare such a case before selecting a jury. The process is long, tedious and very costly. On the other hand, life in prison is even longer, more tedious, and far more costly!