Accused Serial Rapist Makes Brief Court Appearance

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, MI — Suspected serial rapist Ikeie Ranordo Smith, 32, who could be charged in about three dozen sexual assaults and home invasions in multiple Metro Detroit communities, was bound over for trial on charges related to two of them Tuesday.

Smith appeared via video in a brief pretrial examination in Wayne County Circuit Court, where he was ordered to stand trial on charges stemming from incidents in Redford Township in 2014 and 2016. Smith faces first-degree home invasion and second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in the first case, and first-degree home invasion, armed robbery and first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct in the 2016 case.

During the brief appearance, Smith asked to have the hearing waived. His next court date is Oct. 11.
So far, Smith has also been charged in cases in Allen Park, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Garden City and Inkster, but Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said after Smith’s arrest on Sept. 7 that he police are investigating at least 35 more cases in multiple communities.

Haddad did not say how many of the cases, which date back to 2011, involved rape, but said a Michigan State Police lab analysis in November linked the suspect to all of the them.

“I can’t go into the other jurisdictions’ cases, nor will I give out evidentiary information,” Haddad said at a news conference last month. “But I will tell you there are 35 cases in our region that we suspect this person is responsible for. In the city of Dearborn, we have confirmed there are three cases that involve this individual.”

Previously on Patch

• Serial Rape Suspect: ‘I Was Basically Kidnapped’
• ‘Stick a Fork in Him; He’s Done’: Mother of Suspected Serial Rapist
• Alleged Serial Rapist in Crimes Dating Back to 2011 Caught
• Crime Video: Help Police ID Home Invasion Person of Interest
• Dearborn Police Warn of Rapist Whose Crimes May Go Back a Decade

In the news conference, Haddad said “this particular nightmare that has plagued our community and region for a long time is over.”

FBI behavior analysts have described Smith as “a power reassurance rapist,” that is an individual who experiences feelings of self-doubt inadequacy with women, but generally does not harm them beyond the sexual assault.

“There’s no more power he holds over the people,” Haddad said. “I can assure you he will be in jail for a long time.”

Smith’s mother, Janet Freeman, attended his initial arraignment in Garden City on seven felony counts, but left the courtroom in tears as a police detective described her rape while her husband slept in another room.

“He did this and it’s inexcusable,” Freeman said, according to the report by The Detroit News. “I’m so angry at him, trust me. But I’m going to support my baby.

“My heart goes out to the victims, most of all. They didn’t deserve this. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It is what it is. DNA doesn’t lie.”

“Stick a fork in him,” she said, “he’s done.”

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