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Serial rapist reportedly attacked 1 woman twice

Alleged victim identified Montiel in both assaults

One of the women victimized in a series of rapes and robberies that terrified the East End for months was sexually assaulted twice in separate attacks at her home three months apart, police revealed Thursday.

The woman has identified suspect Eddy Montiel, 23, in both of the attacks, which happened May 5 and Aug. 15, said Houston Police Lt. Robert Manzo. Officers declined to be specific about where the crimes happened, but previously issued police reports list separate attacks only on Avenue L.

Confirmation of the repeat attacks came hours before state District Judge Michael J. Wilkinson issued a gag order Thursday prohibiting officers, attorneys and witnesses from talking about the case.

Nine assaults or attempted attacks have been reported in the East End since December, and Montiel has been linked to six of them, police said this week. He remains in the Harris County Jail without bail and has been charged only in connection with the last known rape, that of a 19-year-old woman assaulted in front of her children last week at her home on Avenue I.

Repeated attacks targeting the same victim — even one who is a stranger to the rapist — are not unheard of, one expert said.

"To come back and repeat a rape on the same victim is the ultimate power trip for the sex offender," said Dr. Judy Johnson, clinical director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Sex Offender Rehabilitative Services. "Because he has demonstrated to the victim and his own psyche, 'Any time, any place, any circumstance, I can get at you.'

"It's really not that uncommon for a serial rapist to attempt to do that and to succeed. It's not about just the rape — it's really about instilling a sense of absolute terror."

Returning to the same victim, Johnson added, is "a real marker of a very dangerous person."

Such an approach is less risky and more thrilling to some predators than selecting a new target, said Cassandra Thomas, senior vice president of the Houston Area Women's Center.

"He's already broken down some of the barriers. The level of fear and loss of control (the victim) has is even greater," Thomas said.

Montiel began crying when police cornered him last week in front of his mother's home in the 200 block of Broadway.

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