
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 20, 1993                   TAG: 9308200233
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Newport News Daily Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Medium

BITTEN-OFF HAIRS HELP CONVICT RAPE SUSPECT

A woman raped by an intruder bit off several of his pubic hairs, kept them under her tongue and turned them over to police to help authorities identify the rapist.

Her defensive tactic - called "very smart" by prosecutors and "very courageous" by police - helped investigators piece together a case that netted a guilty plea Thursday from Kenneth E. Robinson of Chesapeake.

"I've never heard of such a thing before," said Joan Beale, head of CONTACT Peninsula, a rape crisis center. "I think it's great."

Robinson, 20, pleaded guilty in Newport News Circuit Court to rape and two charges of forcible sodomy. The offenses occurred Oct. 25 at an apartment in Denbigh.

Police say Robinson broke into the apartment, attacked a 9-year-old girl at knifepoint and then raped her mother. Robinson forced the girl and her mother to perform oral sex on him, police said.

Robinson would have faced trial Thursday had he not pleaded guilty. Among the witnesses waiting to take the stand were the girl, her mother and a hair analyst.

The analyst was going to testify that the hairs recovered from the mother matched Robinson's hair, prosecutor Richard Kerns said. A human hair has 15 characteristics identifiable by microscopic examination that can be used to distinguish it from other hairs.

Beale said the woman showed "amazing presence of mind." Lt. Carl Burt of the Newport News Police Department agreed, but said he "can't put a stamp on that as being for everyone."

"I wouldn't recommend anyone doing anything that they felt would place themselves in jeopardy," said Burt, a police spokesman. "That victim did what she thought was appropriate, and it did help our case tremendously."

Police arrested Robinson within an hour of the attack, about a half-mile away. He was pushing his car, which had run out of gas. Robinson told police he broke into the woman's house because he wanted to steal money for gas.

Robinson admitted to police that he sexually assaulted the woman. He also admitted trying to have sex with the girl but denied sodomizing her. Robinson told police he thought the girl was 16 or 17, not 9. He also said he had been drinking beer that night.

Robinson is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 15. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

by CNB