Woman identifies 13-year-old as rapist

By DAVID KARP

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 6, 2001

TAMPA -- As she looked up at her attacker, one thought ran through the woman's mind: He looks so young.

She couldn't pinpoint his age, but she guessed 17. A little younger than her oldest son, she thought.

"I kept saying to myself, "This looks like a young kid,' " she said.

On Wednesday, the woman looked across the courtroom to the boy sitting at the defense table.

"That's him," she said. "Right there."

The boy she identified as her rapist was Tavaris Knight, 13, a skinny kid with a tiny nose, pointy ears and lanky arms and legs.

Just a child, he still towered over his two attorneys when he stood in court Wednesday.

The woman's identification of her attacker was the key issue in the first day of Knight's trial on kidnapping, sexual battery and attempted robbery charges. He faces anywhere from 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

Her identification is crucial, since police won't be allowed to testify that Knight admitted to bringing two fake guns to the attack in Copeland Park. Circuit Judge Jack Espinosa Jr. threw out the statements because officers had not recently informed the boy of his right to remain silent.

Knight's arrest in November enraged residents near Copeland Park, who demanded more security at the city park near the University of South Florida.

In court, however, his two female attorneys treated him like a little boy. They sat on both sides of him and when Knight approached the judge with his attorneys, one gently placed her arm on his back.

"Thirteen-year-old Tavaris Knight did not commit the crime," Assistant Public Defender Ursula Richardson told the jury. "The man who did, who was 18 to 20, is not sitting at that table."

She questioned the different descriptions the woman gave witnesses and police officers of Knight's age, face and lack of facial hair. The woman was so terrified that she couldn't clearly see who had attacked her, Richardson argued.

But as the rape victim sat through cross-examination, she said she was sure her attacker was Knight. The Times is not identifying the woman because of the nature of the crime.

Around 11:30 a.m., the woman was taking her four daughters to the park. She had packed juice boxes and snacks for the kids, 4-year-old twins, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old. The girls carried little bags decorated with daisies and a big smiling face.

Copeland Park was about two blocks from her new home. Under the shade of a oak hammock, the kids could play in a sandlot on yellow slides and a jungle gym.

Then, a boy on a bike asked her for the time. She answered, but he didn't leave. Suddenly, he came up to her and put a gun to her head.

"Give me your money," he said.

She had no money but offered to go home to get some. "I will give you money, but please don't do anything to us," she begged. With a gun at her head, he told her to walk into the woods.

"Mommy will be right back," she told her children.

As he forced her to undress behind some bushes and trees, she could hear her kids screaming nearby.

She asked him:

"Don't you have a mother? Don't you have a family?"

"I'm on my own," he said.

As he raped her, she struggled and then grabbed the gun. She tried to fire it, hoping to attract attention. But the gun didn't fire.

"He looked frightened like he knew that I knew something," she said.

The woman didn't realize it, but the gun was a toy.

Desperate, the woman was able to break free and run. Naked except for tennis shoes, she flagged down a couple driving by. Her children were following her in tears.

"He's still here," she said, screaming.

One of the motorists, Daisy Perez, said the woman said the attacker had a gold tooth, something Knight doesn't have. Others who spoke to her, including police officers, said she told them she thought her attacker was around 18 to 20 years old.

Under cross-examination, the woman said she never mentioned a gold tooth.

The defense lawyer also asked her about her estimates of the attacker's age. Why did she say he was 18 or 20?

"I did not have time when he was raping me to ask him his age," she said.

The trial is expected to last through Friday.

- David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright