Escaped Rapist Sought in Kidnapping, Assault
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A convicted rapist and kidnapper who escaped from a state prison is suspected of assaulting a woman and forcing her to drive him to a state park, authorities said.
Leighton Bates, 41, apparently escaped Monday from the medium-security Oregon State Correctional Institute by hiding in a delivery truck, a corrections department spokesman said.
Salem police Sgt. Jim Miller said Bates later hid in the laundry room of an apartment complex and took a woman hostage, forcing her back to her apartment, where he assaulted her and spent the night.
The next morning, Bates forced the woman to drive him to a state park about 20 miles east of Salem.
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