Man Who Raped 12 Women Arrested After More Than 20 Years: Police

An alleged serial rapist was captured in South Carolina after more than 20 years on the run.

The Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office said deputies and other local police officers arrested Gregory Howard Frye, 52, on April 2 and believe he’s responsible for 13 rapes that took place in the northern part of the state between 1995 and 2003. One of the victims was raped twice.

The sexual assaults took place early in the morning at residences across Spartanburg County and in the city of Spartanburg.

All of the victims were white females, as young as 14 and as old as 51.

Although all of the victims described similarities regarding the attacker, leading police to believe it was one suspect, the suspect didn’t establish a pattern, sometimes waiting over a year between the attacks. He waited 37 months at one point.

About six months ago, investigators began taking a fresh approach to the case—focusing on forensic evidence, identifying potential family members of possible suspects, collecting new DNA samples, and sending the evidence for analysis.

Through analysis from the State Law Enforcement Division, investigators pinpointed a DNA profile that matched evidence collected from victims in six of the cases.

The evidence matched Frye.

He was charged with burglary, first-degree kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct, with other charges pending.

“This is just a great day to know we got at least one person that is going to be held accountable for a reign of terror that he’s caused for these victims. These victims are stronger than that and they are really inspirational,” Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright said in a statement.

“The creative minds, the dedicated professionals here to my left broke this case,” Spartanburg Police Chief Alonzo Thompson added at a news conference, reported the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. “It was good old-fashioned police work, asking questions, never giving up.”

Frye doesn’t have a prior record. Victims range in age from 14-51. Officials say all victims were targeted in apartment complexes. pic.twitter.com/gnU45VTeWO

— Dana Griffin (@DanaGriffinWYFF) April 3, 2019

Lynn Hawkins, executive director of the Safe Homes-Rape Crisis Coalition said that the trauma of sexual assault can be compounded by victims knowing their attacker has not been caught.

“The trauma that’s there is just unbelievable,” Hawkins said. “And once it happens once, and then it happens twice, you’re probably living in fear every day of your life that it’s going to happen again.”

On the other hand, if the attacker is captured, it can help bring closure.

“When you’re assaulted and they never find who assaulted you, then it’s this fear that he’s going to find you again,” she said. “So having that person be arrested is perhaps having your horror story come to an end.”

Crime Statistics

Crime declined in the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017, the FBI said in February. Preliminary statistics show nearly all offenses in the violent crime category declined. Robbery offenses decreased 12.5 percent, murder and non-negligent manslaughter offenses decreased 6.7 percent, and aggravated assault offenses declined 2 percent, the agency said.

Rape, however, increased by 0.6 percent.

When comparing data from the first six months of 2018 with the first six months of 2017, all property crime categories showed a decrease. Burglaries were down 12.7 percent, larceny-thefts decreased 6.3 percent, and motor vehicle thefts declined 3.3 percent.

The full 2018 crime report will be released later this year.

The figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.