Rape victim testifies that her attacker apologized to her later

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The third of six women allegedly raped by a Las Vegas teen testified Monday that the teenager apologized for attacking her and said he'd never done it before.

Police believe Justin Porter, 17, invaded 13 homes between Feb. 1 and June 9. In six of the incidents, women were sexually assaulted and a former monk was slain in a seventh.

Prosecutors have been presenting evidence over the past several weeks in the hopes of convincing Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle to bind Porter over for trial. Because of scheduling conflicts, the preliminary hearing is lasting longer than usual, with Oesterle fitting in sessions whenever she can.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys Teresa Lowry and Doug Herndon have already put apartment dwellers who were not sexually assaulted on the stand and are gathering testimony from the sexual assault victims. The Sun does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.

All of the attacks took place in apartments in an area bordered by Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas Boulevard, Bonanza Road and Sahara Avenue. In almost all of the cases, the intruder gained entry by kicking in the front door.

The woman who testified Monday said she was sleeping with her child when she awoke to a thump and found a man standing in her bedroom doorway pulling a stocking over his head and holding a knife. Her roommate and her roommate's children were asleep in other bedrooms.

After seeing her, the man said "Oh yeah" and ordered her to follow him into the living room. Over the next 45 minutes the man drank Kool-Aid, rummaged through most of the apartment and sexually assaulted her, using plastic wrap as a condom.

After the man asked her if he could take her stereo and she said "No," he put her TV into a baby stroller and left, the woman said.

The woman said that after telling her roommate to call the police, she sat on a couch armed with a kitchen knife.

Two months later, the woman said, police told her they had arrested Porter and his fingerprints matched those found in her apartment.

Also testifying Monday was Metro Detective Debbie Love.

Love said Porter was questioned after he was spotted at 2:30 a.m. June 13 in the area of the assaults. As with other men matching the description of the suspect, she obtained a DNA sample from inside his mouth after obtaining his mother's permission.

Test results connected Porter to at least two of the sexual assaults two months later, and he was arrested in August in Chicago at his father's house.

The hearing is expected to continue Wednesday.