Arrest of Rape Suspect Eases Women’s Fear

Michelle Ballina hadn’t slept worry-free in years knowing a serial rapist was on the loose. The 19-year-old Simi Valley woman took a self-defense class, bought pepper spray and triple-locked her doors and windows.

Jan Trerise, 59, feared so much for her daughter that she installed motion sensors at their house.

Vicki Fernelius, a mother of three children, put her faith in her two guard dogs and the local police and just waited for authorities to catch the man.

The fear was felt by women throughout Simi Valley for years as the rapist struck over and over again. But on Wednesday, the fear ended.

The arrest of Vincent Henry Sanchez, a 30-year-old Simi Valley man charged as the suspect in about a dozen rapes in the last five years, was the talk of women throughout the city.

Some participated in telephone chains, calling friends to spread the word. Others said they hoped that it was truly over and that police had the right man.

They also talked about how the fear of rape in one of America’s safest cities had changed their lives.

When Ballina heard the news this week that police had a suspect in custody, she “literally got goose bumps,” she said. “I was just thrilled.”

To a point, her fear had been a good motivator, she said. The self-defense class taught her to carry herself with authority.

But her concern sometimes bordered on obsession. Ballina would have her father wait for her in the frontyard if she was coming home late. At night she would close her bedroom door, then lie in bed worrying that the rapist would come in through a window and her parents wouldn’t be able to hear her cries.

“For five years, I’ve been like, ‘Oh, my God,’ ” she said.

On the street where Sanchez has lived for the last five years, Sue Taylor also said she is relieved. Taylor, 27, said she is glad she insisted on locking the windows at night, despite her husband’s requests she leave them open for air.

“It’s like nine houses away,” she said, referring to the house where Sanchez lived with four roommates.

Like other women, Jan Trerise followed the case over the years as the list of victims grew. Without knowing anything about the attacker, she believed that the rapist’s acts were a symptom of the proliferation of pornography and a decaying moral fiber in America.

Trerise believed there was little she could do to fight what sort of movies were made or magazines published. Instead, she chose to defend her home--thus the motion sensors--and give her daughter practical advice, such as not to travel alone at night.

But in Simi Valley, a city that prides itself on a strong law-and-order culture, others did not feel helpless.

As a gun owner who learned to hunt at age 10, Councilwoman Barbra Williamson, 57, said she didn’t feel particularly vulnerable.

“I don’t leave my doors open. I don’t leave my windows open, and I take the necessary precautions to protect myself,” Williamson said. Had a rapist targeted her, she said, “I would shoot that. . . . What I was about to say, you can’t print.”

Women “have a responsibility to protect themselves,” she said. “These creeps are going to prey on women until we get to the point where we say, ‘Ain’t gonna happen no more.’ ”

Fernelius, who depended on her guard dogs, expressed a similar attitude.

“One serial rapist compared to what, other cities’ crime rates?” she scoffed. “I still think Simi Valley’s a pretty safe place to live.”

But Police Capt. Tony Harper said that most women that he has talked with this week were terrified of the rapist, and are resting much easier now that a suspect is behind bars.

“We’re very fortunate to live in a community where we don’t have a lot of crime,” Harper said. “But we still encourage our citizens to be careful, keep their homes locked and secured and not let their guard down.”