Woman raped while on way to Salt Lake Temple

A woman taking a shortcut to the Salt Lake Temple where she works part time as a missionary was physically and sexually assaulted early Monday.

Police said the woman, 50, was walking through the parking lot behind the State Office of Education, 250 E. 500 South, at 5:56 a.m. when she was grabbed, struck with a rock and then raped.

Salt Lake City police detective Dwayne Baird said police are now looking for information that will lead to the arrest of her alleged attacker.

The area behind the state education building is mostly a driveway and a parking lot with several open garages, state Office of Education spokesman Mark Peterson said. Generally no employees are in the building before 6 a.m., he said, although a security guard comes on duty in the parking lot at 6 a.m. Peterson said the guard had spoken with police, but Peterson did not know if the guard was the person who found or assisted the woman after the attack.

Baird also was unclear about who assisted the woman. She suffered some minor physical injuries in the attack.

"She was putting up the biggest fight of her life," Baird said.

Police have only limited information about the alleged attacker. He is described as being about 5 feet 8 inches tall with blond hair and a thin build. He was wearing a light-colored T-shirt and blue jeans. Police are uncertain about the man's age and do not know what direction he headed when he left the area.

Baird did not know if the woman lives nearby or if she has previously passed through the parking lot to shorten her walk to downtown.

A brutal attack by a stranger is the type of attack most frequently depicted in movies and other forms of media, but is in actuality not the kind that occurs most often, said Gail Fidjeland, clinical director of the Salt Lake Rape Recovery Center.

"Most commonly, victims know their perpetrator. It's either an acquaintance or a family member or a friend," Fidjeland said. "I'd say about 85 to 90 percent of survivors we seek know their perpetrators. (This) is unusual."

But Fidjeland said people, and women in particular, should not be so frightened by this attack that they significantly alter their lives or patterns.

"I would suggest that people are always cognizant of their surroundings," she said. "But I think it's difficult to not live your life because someone else has been attacked."

The Rape Crisis Center, she adds, offers 24-hour, seven-day-a-week free counseling services to survivors of rape and other sexual assaults. Center crisis counselors can be reached at 467-7273.

Anyone with information about the assault or who may have seen anything unusual in that area Monday morning is asked to contact Salt Lake police at 799-3000.

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com