Rapist Paroled Near Victim’s Home, She Says

A woman who says she was a victim of convicted serial rapist Melvin Carter faced her “worst nightmare” when he was paroled less then 10 miles from her rural Modoc County home, a local official said.

The woman, who said she was raped 16 years ago by Carter while she was a student at Cal State Hayward, contacted Modoc County authorities Friday.

Carter, known as the “College Terrace rapist,” was paroled Thursday to a minimum-security prison camp in the county. He served 12 years of a 25-year sentence after pleading no contest to 23 counts of rape, assault, burglary and attempted burglary in 1982.

“This was her worst nightmare,” Dist. Atty. Ruth Sorensen said.

The State Department of Corrections had no idea that a victim was living in the county, agency spokesman Tip Kindel said.

“There was absolutely no indication that any of his victims resided in Modoc County,” Kindel said. “We’ve not been officially notified about this. If the alleged victim gets in touch with the department, we will certainly review the issue.”