Tulsa Police working more sexual assault cases this year, compared to a year ago

Sexual assaults are on the rise in Tulsa. Rapes and attempted rapes were up in 2003 and that trend has continued into this year. <br><br>Victims in several recent stranger rapes described their attacker

Thursday, April 1st 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Sexual assaults are on the rise in Tulsa. Rapes and attempted rapes were up in 2003 and that trend has continued into this year.

Victims in several recent stranger rapes described their attacker as a tall, heavyset, white male. Sex crimes detectives are trying to determine whether any of the attacks can be linked to the same suspect.

Tulsa Police Sex Crimes Sgt Gary Stansill: â€œWhat we have to do is just sit down and see what we can do on those other old cases. In other words, there might be cases where the victim can't make a positive identification so showing photo lineups won't work."

Stansill says police are comparing DNA evidence from recent sexual assaults to determine whether they're dealing with a serial rapist.