Chance sighting catches rapist
Exclusive Gabrielle Knowles, Chief Crime Reporter, The West Australian Updated August 7, 2013, 2:50 am
Rapist: Stephen Michael Adams. Picture: Supplied
Police believe a sex predator who raped one woman and attacked another in West Perth may have been trawling for another victim when a chance sighting by officers on patrol ended a nine-month hunt for the man.
Details of the arrest were revealed in the Supreme Court yesterday, where Stephen Michael Adams faced a pre-sentence hearing.
The 26-year-old woman who fought off an attack by Adams, 44, warned others to be vigilant because of how "normal" he had appeared.
The woman told The West Australian she threw her bag at Adams and fled when she realised he wanted to rape and not just rob her as he ordered her into a secluded parking garage in broad daylight in April last year.
"You would easily entertain a conversation with him if he asked you for directions," she said. "That's why I want to warn women to take extra care."
Adams, who worked for government agencies including the Immigration Department, has pleaded guilty to rape charges and fraud offences. He will be sentenced today.
State prosecutor Derrin Krueger told the Supreme Court yesterday psychological and psychiatric reports found the two West Perth attacks were well-planned. Adams had a "rape kit" of a BB gun, knife, Viagra and pepper spray ready, and claimed to know where all the CCTV cameras were in West Perth.
When Wembley officers logged details of the man riding his motorcycle on a Cambridge Street footpath in December, it caught the attention of detectives as they cross-referenced information about the wanted attacker.
Det-Sgt Frank Glynn, who was heading the inquiry, said the motorbike sparked his interest because the sex offender had been captured on CCTV riding one on the day of the second attack.
When he realised the man stopped in Wembley was carrying pepper spray, a knife and riding a motorbike with false numberplates, he was hopeful they might have found the suspect.
When Adams' DNA matched samples from his first victim, police knew they had him. Det-Sgt Glynn believes those patrol officers may have saved another woman that night.
"Had he given it a break for eight months or so, thinking there is CCTV footage out there of me, I'd better be careful," Det-Sgt Glynn said. "But was he out looking that night?"
Under the guise of robberies, the man had targeted lone women. He used the gun he had tucked into his waistband to try to get them into secluded areas.
He sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman in March last year after ordering her at gunpoint into a driveway behind an Ord Street business. A month later, he accosted the 26-year-old woman but she fled.
Adams' lawyer Richard Lawson told the court his client blamed his offending on "seduction rape" pornography that he watched as a Customs officer.
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