Sexual Assault

An Anchorage cab driver was arrested Tuesday after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in his cab earlier this month. APD spokesperson Marlene Lammers says Paul Velasco, 28, is charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault. Police responded May 1 to a Tesoro gas station on the 300 block of Boniface Parkway after a 42-year-old Alaska Native woman who had just been dropped off reported that she had been sexually assaulted by a Checker Cab driver. The woman said she had been drinking at a friend's house on the 5900 block of East 6th Avenue until shortly after midnight, when her friend called her a cab to take her to a residence where she was staying on the 200 block of Newell Street.

When Standing Together Against Rape held a crisis line training session this spring, one thing stood out: out of 10 trainees, only two were men.   The crisis line, which is staffed in large part by volunteers, is the hub of STAR's advocacy efforts.  Callers use it to find out how to report a rape, access resources in the community, or simply to talk with someone about how to cope with the trauma. STAR, an Anchorage-based advocacy group, has battled for years against the perception that sexual violence only affects women.

Many Anchorage residents say they don't think they're as safe as they once were, in the wake of the high-profile homicides of Senior Airman Clinton Reeves and barista Samantha Koenig. Despite the concerns, APD says violent crime is down in most categories, excluding domestic violence and sexual assault. Readers and viewers on Channel 2's Facebook page and KTUU.com have written that that they question the safety of Alaska's largest city after news coverage of the Reeves and Koenig cases.

Dozens of men participated in Standing Together Against Rape's "Walk A Mile In Her Shoes" fundraiser on April 27. STAR held its' fifth annual event inside the University Center Mall. The participants walked for one mile in two and three inch heels to raise awareness about sexual assault. Alaska consistently has the country's worst rates for sexual assault and domestic violence rates. Representatives from STAR say the fundraiser is a good way to get community members talking about a difficult topic.

More than a year after being convicted for raping four women while on duty during 2008 and 2009, former Anchorage police officer Anthony Rollins was sentenced to 87 years in prison Friday. District Court Judge Philip Volland sentenced Rollins to a total of 151 years and six months in prison on numerous counts of sexual assault and misconduct, with 87 remaining to serve. Volland said that the sentence means Rollins won't be eligible for parole until his early nineties -- 57 years into his 87-year sentence.

The Anchorage Police Department's policy and procedures relating to supervision and disciplinary actions will be the subject of an independent investigation according to Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, who cited APD's handling of sexual assaults by former officer Anthony Rollins. A statement from Sullivan's office Monday said the International Association of Chiefs of Police were in contract discussions to conduct the external review. The move comes in the wake of concerns about whether Rollins received timely and appropriate discipline for sexually assaulting several women at APD's now-closed Mountain View substation from 2006 to 2009.

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....

An Anchorage man, who was captured in California after fleeing the state from multiple child sex assault charges, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on Tuesday. Vaituu Motuga had charged with five counts of sexual assault of a minor. Motuga agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual assault of a minor in the second degree. In November 2011, the U.S. Marshals service arrested Motuga in Riverside, California. An arrest warrant was issued after he failed to appear at an October court appearance.

A 4-year-old girl in a small Western Alaskan village was sexually assaulted on Saturday, according to Alaska State Troopers. Troopers received a report it happened in Kotlik at 5:00 a.m. Saturday by a family member. A child advocacy center interview has been arranged in Bethel for the victim. State Troopers from Emmonak are handling the ongoing investigation.