FL - Man abducts, rapes two girls, Port Charlotte

From the article:

Erick Thomas Knapp Jr., 31, confessed to investigators that he kidnapped, bound and raped the girls, ages 13 and 7, in separate incidents......
"He went into occupied residences and snatched children while their parents were sleeping in the next room," Savage said. "I don't know how much more of a monster" one can be.


Speechless here!
Thank God that he did not murder them...
but oh how sickening that this kind of thing happens.
I cannot help but feel that these crimes deserve
the ultimate in punishment.

Prayers for all...especially those BRAVE girls who came forward!!!

Florida has seen so many tragedies this past year.

with much love,

Ariel

What is most frightening about this latest trend is these guys are getting into the houses at night and taking these kids - and in this case returning them - all without the parents knowing.
Just shows that the idea that parents would "know" or awaken if someone got in and took their child is being proven wrong again and again. Wonder if this will make LE look a little deeper into the possibility it is a stranger abduction rather than immediately focusing on the family members/relatives first? This is what - the 4th and 5th child this year that has turned out to be a stranger abduction from WITHIN the home? At least these girls are still alive to tell the story - if they hadn't just think, it might not have turned out the same for future victims. A lot of these creeps eventually figure out that leaving the victim alive increases their chances of getting caught, so like Couey, they escalate into murder.

Port Charlotte man accused of kidnapping, raping two girls


A Port Charlotte man is accused of breaking into homes and waking young girls in the middle of the night before gagging, binding, kidnapping and raping them while threatening to kill their families.

The youngest known victim is a 7-year-old girl.

"We believe we have taken a real monster off the streets," Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport said Saturday.

Davenport and the top leaders of the Major Crimes Unit announced the arrest of 31-year-old Erick Thomas Knapp Jr. on numerous charges of kidnapping, armed burglary and sexual battery -- including a capital felony offense.

"He went into occupied residences and snatched children while their parents were sleeping in the next room," said Sheriff's Capt. Michael Savage. "I don't know how much more of a monster (one can be)."

http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/052205/tp1ch7.htm?date=052205&story=tp1ch7.htm

I have actually gotten up some courage and emailed them. This MO sounds very similiar to some unsolved serial rapes that occured in Ohio in 1999.

I got a really nice call back from a dective there, and they are going to check with Cincinnati to see if there is any connection between the Cincinnati serial rapes and the guy they caught.

mysteriew said:

I got a really nice call back from a dective there, and they are going to check with Cincinnati to see if there is any connection between the Cincinnati serial rapes and the guy they caught.

Click to expand...

wow,
that would be great if they could solve it.
and what a great feeling that would be for you as well!!!

I am so glad that little girl had the courage to tell!!!!!

I do have a question though- did he break in to the homes??
or did they leave a window, or door unlocked?
not placing blame on the parents, just curious as
to how he got in the homes.

sharon25 said:

I do have a question though- did he break in to the homes??
or did they leave a window, or door unlocked?
not placing blame on the parents, just curious as
to how he got in the homes.

Click to expand...

Sharon, according to the article he broke into the last home...

Between the hours of 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., Knapp broke into the girl's home through a kitchen window.

Click to expand...

What a freakin' creep, scum of a human....and again it happened in Florida...Wonder how long he will be required to serve when convicted....:behindbar

IF I remember correctly (and I have been looking for the stories and cannot find them, as the archives don't go back that far) he got in through unlocked windows, doors, or garage doors.
If they are related, and that not defininte, but yes if I can be a part of solving the Cincinnati rapes of little girls, that would be sooooo way cool.

If I am remembering correctly he targeted girls, took them from their homes and raped them outside. He operated for several years, but only in the spring, summer and fall for obvious reasons. Around 1999 or 2000 the media reminded people in the spring to be alert as this was the time he struck. And that year he didn't come back. When Jessica Lunsford disappeared the media gave out the story that Cincinnati LE was contacting Homasassa LE due to similiarities in the cases. So I knew the Cincinnati case was still unsolved. So I notified Cincinnati LE and the Charlotte County LE.
A couple of things in the article stood out. Knapp had lived out of state and he was in Fla. staying with relatives to get his life straightened out due to unspecified problems he had had elsewhere.
I was suprised at the quick response from LE in Charlotte Co. Here I am a non-resident, calling about possible crime connection in another state, due to info from the internet (anyone around here admitting to info from the internet is looked at with suspicion). But they contacted me immediately. High marks for Charlotte Co. LE.

I'm glad they did mysteriew...will keep my fingers crossed that they are connected because if they were then that would mean that there still isn't some child rapist running loose. I think most of FL LE are on their toes these days, they have to be with all the high profile cases that have been in the news this year.

All of these cases somehow bring me back to Jessica...with this one I can't help but think about what Couey must have done to keep her quiet...makes me physically ill...

And that poor 7 yr old in this case, being afraid to tell her parents...what a sick f*&^ he is...may the devil torture his soul too.

Knapp admitted to detectives that he kidnapped and raped the girls. He told detectives he was armed with a box cutter and brought an ace bandage with him to the 7-year-old girl's home so he could bind her hands.

He then agreed to be videotaped and taken to the Rock Creek Drive house, where Knapp provided a detailed account of the sex acts he committed on the girls, according to his arrest report.

http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/052305/tp2ch6.htm?date=052305&story=tp2ch6.htm

"We have put him in the area at the time of the incidents," Stanford said Monday. "We certainly think there are enough similarities to warrant a closer scrutiny."

According to Stanford, the Callaway Creeper has been tied to at least five incidents in which someone broke into a home and molested children in their beds. During one of the attacks, a father woke up to see a man leading his small daughter out of the house. When the perpetrator saw the father, he ran away.

The victims ranged in age from 7 to 13. The first incident was on Nov. 12, 1995; the last on April 28, 1997. The Callaway Creeper -- so named for the subdivision where the incidents happened -- terrorized Bay County for two years until the break-ins seemed to just stop.

http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/052405/tp2ch7.htm?date=052405&story=tp2ch7.htm

I think it's possible...didn't one of the earlier stories say that Knapp lived around Panama City for a while? If that's the case and they can put him there in this time frame I think it very well may be him...Good God, I have to wonder how many children he has victimized

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/ActiveInmates/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=672732622
His sentence is over in 2052. Will he be unable to offend if he lives to be 78???