Rape suspect accused of attacking girl

By JUSTIN GEORGE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 27, 2007

Tampa police say they have found a troubling new victim of a suspected serial rapist who terrorized North Tampa:

A 10-year-old girl.

It is the first reported case in which police have charged 38-year-old Jerrod Pass with attacking a child.

He remains in jail without bail on 39 charges including multiple sexual battery counts. Police say Pass attacked at least seven women between August 2003 and this summer.

Now included in the charges are nine counts of sexual battery on a victim younger than 12, which police added Friday after DNA and physical evidence linked Pass to an Aug. 18 attack on the 1400 block of E Linebaugh Avenue.

"It surprised us, because normally it is unusual for them to take children and adults at the same time," Tampa police Sgt. Paul Mumford said. "It is unusual for a rape suspect to go from adults to children."

Police said the girl was asleep in her bedroom when Pass entered through an unlocked bedroom window, removed the girl from the house and sexually assaulted her nine times outside.

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 02:02:33]