Rape suspect denies raping a mentally disabled teenager
The articles that I found were from the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press . Both articles were about a rape suspect named Joshua L. Smith and how he denied, on tape, ever raping a 17-year-old mentally challenged teenage female. Smith, at the time of his charges, was 16-years-old and now he is 18-years-old and is on trial at the Ramsey County District Court on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. In an interview with St. Paul police Sgt. Jennifer O'Donnell, Smith denies ever raping and beating the girl who was 17-years-old at the time. Smith is also being charged for raping a 57-year-old woman on New Year's Day 2006.
The Pioneer Press article is shorter and only discusses the interview and background information about the 17-year-old mentally disabled girl. In the article the girl is described as having hair, bone, and skin deformities as well as mental deficiencies. The girl has an IQ of 58, the Pioneer Press reported. After the rape, the girl told investigators that she and Smith met at a park and he told her to come over to his house the next day. Records show that the two exchanged 10 phone calls throughout that day. According to the girl’s mother, she was acting strange and in a note to a friend, her mother discovered she had been sexually assaulted. Her mother found the underwear from the day of the rape and turned it in to police who sent it to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which tested it. The DNA matched the sample of Smith's. The article ends abruptly and gives no information as to the trial or concluding remarks.
The Star Tribune article went more into depth about both the 17-year-old victim and the 57-year-old victim. The 57-year-old woman had a swab sample taken from her mouth after the assault that a trauma nurse sent in to police. According to the nurse, the victim was thirsty and she knew if she didn't get a sample, the water could wash away the DNA, the Star Tribune reported. There was no testimony Friday about whose semen it was and the trial is expected to resume Monday, the Star Tribune reported.
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/30450449.html?elr=KArks:DCiUnP::DE8c7PiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_10633067http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/30450449.html?page=2&c=y