More women allege rape

Spokane property manager Arlin R. Jordin is becoming a bigger priority every day at the Spokane Police Department.

As of Tuesday, 45 women had reported encounters similar to those circumstances for which Jordin was charged earlier this month with second-degree rape. In that case, a 34-year-old woman claimed she was sexually assaulted after Jordin slipped drugs into a drink that left her unconscious.

All of the women either named Jordin specifically or described someone investigators believe could be him. No other name has come up during the investigation, said Sgt. Brad Arleth, who supervises the department’s sexual crimes unit.

“I think it’s likely there are more victims just based on the tip sheets coming in through Crime Check,” Arleth said.

Of the 45 reports, nine women – in addition to the 34-year-old – told police they believe they were raped under a similar set of circumstances, Arleth said. And six more said they believe they were drugged while having a drink with Jordin but got away before anything else happened, Arleth said.

The remaining 30 women reported odd behavior, including a man who answered a door in a bathrobe or offered them drinks when they inquired about an advertisement for rental property, Arleth said. The women have called from North Idaho, Oregon and both sides of Washington.

“It does establish a consistent pattern of someone who is preying on women,” Arleth said. But many reports “are outside the legal time frame for prosecution. We still need to hear about them so we understand the full scope of what occurred.”

Jordin’s attorney, Bevan Maxey, said all the reports are simply allegations that have not been proven.

“I’m not privy to all the information these people have provided,” Maxey said. “It isn’t necessarily surprising that when you advertise this on a daily basis – essentially asking them to come forward – that other people make allegations.”

Arleth said the oldest allegation of rape is from 1992. However, a handful of newer rape allegations fall within Washington’s three-year statute of limitation for reporting the crime.

“When we look at those, we see a clear pattern of conduct,” Arleth said.

An 11th potential rape victim was contacted Tuesday by The Spokesman-Review, and plans to talk with police.

The 47-year-old woman, who works at a Spokane hospital, said she met Jordin at a bar in 1987. At the time, Jordin noticed she was wearing running clothes and suggested they run together.

“We ran a couple of times. One time after running, we had a beer at his apartment,” she said. “It was uneventful.”

The woman said she didn’t see Jordin for a few months. “Then he calls up and says, ‘Come over and have a Bloody Mary,’ ” the woman said.

She agreed. “I had two. Then it was literally like I passed out,” she said. “I woke up and I had no clothes on. I thought, ‘God, what the hell is happening?’ I had vague memories of him actually having sex with me. But I was disoriented.”

The woman told a friend who suggested that she may have been drugged.

“I thought, no, no, no. I guess I just thought I was just becoming a lightweight,” she said. “But you don’t think you would pass out after two drinks.”

The woman said she never told police, even after Jordin called her in 1997 to see if she was still interested in going out.

“I guess I just felt kind of stupid. Sometimes you put yourself in stupid positions,” she said. “But he is still ultimately responsible for his actions.”

The woman said she and friends encountered Jordin “literally every time I went to a bar back then.”

“He hit on my friend when she was eight month’s pregnant,” she said.

Marcia Black-Gallucci, a legal advocate for the Victims Rights Response Team of Lutheran Community Services, said she has worked with several women over the years who reported similar encounters with Jordin.

One of Black-Gallucci’s clients didn’t report her encounter with Jordin because she was afraid she was going to be deported. Another client did report the incident to police, but Jordin said the sex was consensual and he was never charged, she said.

“I’ve been in crisis intervention for 17 years and this is the epitome of a serial rapist who has been flying under the radar all these years because (police) couldn’t prove it,” Black-Gallucci said. “But this one case came and now all these other women are saying, ‘Yes, this same thing happened to me.’ We are grateful for this one lady.”