Fairfax Sexual Assaults Of Homeless Women Highlight Ongoing Concern

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The victims of two October sexual assaults at a Fairfax City park are homeless women, which a local daytime shelter says highlights the need for solutions geared toward vulnerable people.

The assaults happened at Gateway Regional Park on the evenings of Oct. 10 and 20. In both incidents, each victim had been sleeping in the park when a man approached, held her down and sexually assaulted her. The suspect fled on a bicycle in both incidents. Both women had non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect is believed to be the same in both cases.

The Lamb Center, a daytime drop-in center in Fairfax, confirmed to Patch the victims were two of its guests. The two women reported the attacks to a case manager.

"We are seeing these women on a daily basis, and we are seeking help for them," said Anna Howell, a spokesperson for the Lamb Center.

Howell said single and homeless women are especially vulnerable to assaults. What the Lamb Center has heard from various guests is that homeless women often connect with a male partner for safety reasons on the streets.

Another complicating factor for the sexual assault victims is mental illness.

"They are sadly the perfect victims as they are easily preyed upon and often not believed," said Howell in a statement. "When they do report an attack like this to authorities they have no door to close behind them and they have no choice but to turn around and go right back to sleeping on the street.

The Lamb Center's case managers said in a statement to Patch that they work to connect guests with resources and authorities when incidents like this happen. However, there are limited resources for the victims in this case. The women face a waiting list for shelter beds, and a bed may not be available for months.

Because the women are single, homeless and mentally ill, Howell says there is a loophole in the domestic violence resources available to them.

"Many women experiencing homelessness suffer from mental illness," said Howell. "These women are then referred to a domestic violence shelter that is not equipped to deal with a mentally ill individual who has just been traumatized."

The Lamb Center's leaders believe specialized housing is the solution for vulnerable people such as these homeless women. One of the Lamb Center's current goals is to secure real estate where it can run specialized housing for homeless women and other vulnerable guests. Because the Lamb Center is a daytime drop-in center, it has limited hours for guests to visit for necessities such as food, showers, laundry, medical services, case management and more. The center is working with Fairfax City and Fairfax County partners to pursue housing opportunities.

"For all the good we can do here at the Lamb Center, what will prevent these atrocities from happening is specialized housing," stated Howell. "Housing that accepts people where they are. Housing that can accommodate mentally ill individuals, physically disabled, and otherwise vulnerable citizens."

Fairfax City Police are seeking help to identify the suspect in both sexual assaults. The suspect is described as a Hispanic man in his early 20s around 5 foot 3 to 5 foot 7 with a slender build. Sketches of the suspect have been released. Anyone with information can contact Detective A.L. Leightley at 703-385-7953.