By Deirdre Parker Smith
dp1@salisburypost.com
According to a story in the Casper, Wyo., Tribune, two men have been arrested on felony sexual assault charges for allegedly using an Internet classified site to carry out the rape of a woman in Natrona County, Wyo..
In a case being compared to the rape-for-hire in Kannapolis, Ty Oliver McDowell, of Casper, has been charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary.
In the Kannapolis case, a husband was accused of hiring a Concord man, Rodney Wayne Liverman, to rape his wife. The suspect held the wife at knifepoint, but she got the knife from him and tossed it toward her husband, who did nothing.
The husband advised her to take a shower and not call the police after the incident.
The husband was not identified in the Post to protect his wife’s identity.
The husband was charged with first-degree rape.
The trial date for the Kannapolis case has not been set.
The assistant district attorney in Natrona County, Wyo., described the recent rape as violent. McDowell, under $250,000 bond, could face life in prison.
Also charged was a California man, Jebidiah James Stipe.
He is accused of starting the case by using the Internet site Craigslist. Stipe, charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault, “solicited and procured the sexual assault of an adult female,” according to the district attorney.
Stipe is a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Craigslist is a San Francisco-based Internet site that allows users to post classified advertisements online at no charge. The Web site has sections devoted to jobs, housing and sales, as well as personals.