Deputies link man to other assaults

Hillsborough deputies say the man charged with raping a girl, 8, committed other assaults while dressed in women's clothing.

By SARAH SCHWEITZER and AMY HERDY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 1999

TAMPA -- For months, sheriff's deputies thought the attacks on young girls by a man often wearing women's clothing and driving a red pickup truck were the work of one person. Monday, they said, they finally had the evidence to prove the crimes were inextricably linked.

Deputies charged Brian Christopher Graham, the man police accused Saturday of abducting and raping an 8-year-old Tampa girl on June 12, with 10 additional counts stemming from five incidents dating back to Oct. 21, 1998.

The charges include battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, sexual battery and performing a lewd and lascivious act. Graham is being held without bail at the Hillsborough County Jail.

Capt. Robert Shrader said two other incidents thought to be linked to the so-called cross-dressing rapist remained unsolved. But he said chances were slim that the crimes were the work of another man.

"I think it is safe to say that because of the number of cases that have been successfully attributed to this defendant that it is a reasonable presumption that this guy was responsible for all of them," Shrader said.

Tampa police are reasonably certain that Graham is responsible for some of their unsolved incidents as well.

"We are looking at him as the only suspect in the other crimes that occurred in the city of Tampa," said Sgt. Bill Rousseau. "We won't be actively looking for suspects in those crimes."

Authorities arrested Graham at his home at 4208 Richmere St. on Friday evening after receiving a tip from a woman who had written down the partial license tag of a red pickup truck that she saw circling the streets of an apartment complex that week.

Police said after his arrest, the 34-year-old made incriminating statements about the June 12 rape and kidnapping of an 8-year-old girl and about four other incidents in Temple Terrace.

Sheriff's deputies said that since the arrest, they have presented victims with photo packs. Six of the victims in five incidents chose Graham's photo, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

The five incidents took place in varied settings, but all occurred early in the morning and in most cases, according to victims, the attacker wore women's clothing and drove a red pickup truck.

In the first reported incident, on Oct. 21, a man wearing a strapless black bra grabbed a 14-year-old girl as she waited for a school bus near Hanna Avenue and Sawyer Road, but ran away when she screamed, deputies said. On Nov. 18, a man wearing pants, a tank top and apron, tried to grab a 15-year-old girl walking to school along Hamilton Avenue but let go of her when she screamed, deputies said.

On Dec. 11, a man grabbed a 15-year-old girl by the arm and tried to pull her toward his truck near Armand Drive and Jackson Springs Road, deputies said, but drove away when she screamed. Eight days later, a man wearing a purple dress, forced a 22-year-old woman to perform oral sex on him after he grabbed her at a bus stop on Hillsborough Avenue near Kelly Road, deputies said.

Finally, on May 5, a man dressed in a black house coat exposed himself to a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl as they were walking to their school at 4001 W Henry St.

Tom Jones, a spokesman for the Department of Children and Families, said the department had no record of investigating child abuse or neglect complaints against Graham. Graham lived with his wife and her 17-year-old daughter.

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