Sexual Assault

The trial of a former Anchorage police officer charged with sexually assaulting six women got under way Tuesday, as Anthony Rollins got to begin facing his accusers. Rollins sat stoically in an Anchorage courtroom Tuesday to face more than 20 counts, including several sexual assault charges. Prosecutors described him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, saying that during a period of at least six years Rollins used his authority and power as a police officer to sexually assault six women.

by Maria Downey Tuesday, June 29, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A sexual assault suspect has been formally charged after he was tracked down in King Salmon. 43-year-old Erickson Ngirchokebai was arrested Monday by state troopers after being tracked down by the U.S. Marshals' Fugitive Task Force. The Anchorage resident is accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on the Delaney Park Strip in Downtown Anchorage June 17. He was arraigned Tuesday in King Salmon.

by Channel 2 News staff Tuesday, March 23, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- An Anchorage jury has convicted a 25-year-old Anchorage man of attempted sexual assault and assault after he attacked a woman jogging on the Westchester Lagoon trail in July of 2008. Michael Nyako now faces 39 to 99 years in prison for the attack. Prosecutor Brittany Dunlop said the woman targeted by Nyako tried to fight him off as he dragged her into a secluded place off the popular path.

by Channel 2 News staff Tuesday, January 12, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- An Anchorage bar owner charged with sexual assault will be allowed back in his bar. Avenue and Gaslight bar owner John Pattee was arrested for groping four women and charged with four counts of second degree sexual assault. Pattee was in court for a bail hearing Tuesday hoping to go back to work at The Avenue during the day and be free of his third-party custodian. Judge Patrick Hanley said because the accusers no longer work at The Avenue, he should be allowed to go back to work.

Three men were arrested Saturday in two separate cases of sexual assault, both of which Anchorage police say involved intoxicated suspects. According to APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker, 43-year-old Ethmer Rader III was arrested Saturday on one count of second-degree attempted sexual assault, while his friend Lawrence Nicolaides, 33, was arrested on one count each of first-degree and second-degree sexual assault, as well as tampering with evidence....

As Anchorage police investigate sexual assault charges against a cab driver who was arrested on Sunday, another taxi driver has been convicted of raping a woman in March 2010. Rafael Lopez Martinez, 44, was convicted of second-degree sexual assault Wednesday.   Martinez was arrested after a woman he picked up at a Downtown hotel told police that he had raped her in the back seat of his cab near her home in East Anchorage. Police say the woman had been drinking with friends from Bethel at the Comfort Inn in Ship Creek and passed out on the ride to her home.

A third woman testified Tuesday morning in the sexual-assault trial of former Anchorage police officer Anthony Rollins, who stands accused of using his authority to assault six women. The woman told jurors Rollins offered her a ride home from her brother’s house, but instead he took her to the police substation in Mountain View, where he raped her. She told the jury she played with a tape dispenser as Rollins raped her to keep her mind off what was happening. The young woman also said she didn't report the rape because "he had all the power and could make life so much worse for me. " A fourth alleged victim also took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

An Eagle River woman was arrested Wednesday on sexual-assault and coercion charges after she allegedly tried to blackmail an Air Force airman over sexual acts committed without his consent. According to APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker, 40-year-old Lagina Griffiths met the airman at a Downtown bar -- identified by investigators as Rumrunner's Old Towne Bar and Grill -- Friday night. “She took the airman home with her where she engaged in sexual acts with him while he was unaware and without his consent,” Parker wrote in a Thursday statement on the case.

A sexual assault report brought the Anchorage police to the Northway Mall early Sunday morning. Just after 4:00 a.m., APD responded after a woman was found in the area crying for help. Neighbors in the area came to her assistance and called the police, according to APD. The victim told police that she had been staying in a tent with a man who demanded sex from her. After she refused and attempted to leave. As she ran from the camp, the suspect chased her down, punched her in the face multiple times and tried to strangle her. The suspect also threatened to kill her if she reported the crime.