Rape cases aren’t commonly reported in Carroll County.
Thursday night, a Westminster man was charged with raping and kidnapping an 18-year-old woman, an incident Janice A. Kispert, CEO of the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County (RCIS) says is even more unlikely.
“There’s two types of rape, the stranger rape and the acquaintance rape,” Kispert said. “The acquaintance rape happens frequently, unfortunately. The guy jumping out of the bushes like this is extremely rare for us.”
Tonight @ 5: A registered sex offender was charged with rape, kidnapping a woman in Westminster
In 2013, there were 30 forcible rape incidents against women reported in Carroll County, according to the state's 2013 Uniform Crime Report. Maryland reported a statewide total of 1,169 sexual offenses that same year.
The fact that the suspect, 48-year-old David John Stultz, was a registered sex offender has baffled the community.
“It certainly sounds like he’s got a history,” Kispert said. How he’s still out there, I don’t know.”
Stultz is listed as a Tier III registrant in the Maryland Sexual Offender Registry, the highest level in Maryland which mandates a lifetime registration. He was convicted back in 1998 of second-degree rape.
While the burden of rape is unfairly placed on women during such incidents, Kispert said, RCIS does offer free counseling services, self-defense classes and a 24-hour hotline for support.
"We look at victims of rape as victims of crimes," she said.
Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone , Kindle and Android .
