San Diego

A Normal Heights man was released Wednesday from County Jail downtown, where he was being held on suspicion of raping a slightly retarded 22-year-old woman who was reported missing Feb. 26, police said. Detective Robert Hilliker said charges of raping an incompetent were dropped against 26-year-old Richard Wallington, because the alleged victim, Lisa Louise Butler, did not want to prosecute.

“She told us that she wasn’t missing, and that it was her choice to go with (Wallington) because she was doing her own thing,” Hilliker said.

Butler, who police were told has the mental capacity of a 9-year-old, met Wallington at a downtown bus stop and went to his home in the 3000 block of Suncrest Drive, where she stayed all last week, said police spokesman Bill Robinson.

An official at a supervised home in Southeast San Diego, where Butler lives, reported her disappearance to police, who alerted the local media. Her picture appeared in some newspapers and television news programs.

Hilliker said police interviewed Butler and determined she was capable of making her own decision about staying with Wallington. He said there was insufficient evidence of Butler’s retarded mental condition.

Butler was found Monday in a Burger King restaurant at Fashion Valley, Robinson said. He said that a man who had worked with Butler in a Special Olympics event recognized her from media reports and told an employee to call police.

Wallington is employed at the fast-food restaurant and Butler was waiting for him to finish work.