Maui rape investigations still active

Answer: Maui police said no one was ever charged in the four sexual attacks that occurred within a 12-week period.

"It's still an active investigation," said police Lt. John Jakubczak.

Jakubczak said at this time there is no evidence to connect the rapes to each other or a single attacker.

He said there have been no sexual attacks on seniors that fit the profile or are similar to any of the four cases.

The last rape of an elderly Maui woman reported widely in the news media took place Aug. 23, 2005, and involved a 72-year-old woman in Kahului.

The woman was walking when a man grabbed her from behind.

But she triggered a hand-held electronic alarm, prompting him to flee.

With help from the Maui police, the woman was able to develop a sketch of the suspect that was distributed widely on the Valley Isle.

The sketch described the suspect as 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall, possibly Chinese Hawaiian, with a long, slender, clean-shaven face.

The suspect might have owned a white or light-colored van at the time.

Hundreds of elderly residents and their supporters held a rally near the senior-housing project Hale Mahaolu in Kahului to bring attention to the sexual attacks.

Besides the Aug. 23 sexual assault, there were two others in Kahului and one in Kihei.

Hale Mahaolu director Roy Katsuda said he does not know why the attacks stopped, but he suspects it might be because the perpetrator is serving time in prison on different charges.

Jakubczak said whenever there is a rape investigation, detectives see if the evidence matches any known sexual offenders living in the area.

"We may contact them to find out where they were," he said.