Man convicted of 2nd degree rape

Bryan Ross The victims’ names in this story have been changed to protect their privacy.

Bryan Ross of Camano Island was found guilty of second-degree rape by forcible compulsion in Island County Superior Court last month. In laymen’s terms, Ross took his victim by whatever means necessary, against her will.

She was not the first.

Ross’s April 26 sentencing will hopefully bring his victims closure — the minimum recommended sentencing for second-degree rape is 78 months. It will at least close a case Island County Sheriff Mark Brown and Detective Laura Price called “a big deal.”

Price provided the following details.

Last March, Mary walked out of a store in Marysville and headed to her car. Mary is a small woman at 95 trim pounds, and she limps slightly. Mary is disabled in the sense that she has a hard time walking, Price said.

Behind her, she heard a man’s voice.

“Ma’am,” he called repeatedly.

Mary ignored him, not even sure he was talking to her. She got to the car, inserted her key in the door and turned to be confronted abruptly by Ross, who she later described as “aggressively charming.”

The two talked and eventually exchanged phone numbers before Mary drove away.

Within an hour and a half, Ross had called several times and left a voicemail. Mary neither answered, nor returned the calls. Over the next several weeks, Ross called a few more times. Mary didn’t return those calls, either.

Mary had plans to visit family on Camano Island last Easter. For one reason or another, Price said, she decided to call Ross. They agreed to meet at his place at 5 p.m. on Easter Sunday.

Mary didn’t want to go alone, though, so she asked her daughter to tag along. Her son-in-law went, too. He didn’t want the women to go alone.

Ross took the three of them on a tour of the house and property. He told them he was a “good guy,” that he had nothing to hide. In retrospect, Price said, both the daughter and son-in-law commented it “seemed like Ross was trying to oversell himself.”

After the tour, Ross invited them all to stay for a movie, but the daughter and son-inlaw declined.

“No, we need to get home,” they said.

Mary decided to stay. started kissing her. Mary later

During the movie, Ross started kissing her. Mary later described Ross as “morphing or changing,” Price said. He got a “glazed look in his eyes.”

Then, Price said, “he proceeded to rape her.”

Mary did the only thing that came to mind: She faked a seizure. She said she was going to die. She asked Ross to call 911.

He refused, but called her daughter, who rushed over. The women drove to the sheriff’s office on Camano Island, where Mary recounted her story to deputies before being taken by ambulance to Providence Medical Center for a medical exam.

When Price met Mary late that night, she saw a woman “distraught, but determined to tell her story.”

By 2 a.m., Price had a probable cause search warrant for Ross’s home. Deputies collected evidence and took Ross to Island County Jail in Coupeville, where he was booked and released.

As the investigation proceeded, Price said, DNA evidence backed up Mary’s story.

Price also unearthed a no-contact order that had been placed on Ross by a woman named Jane.

Jane told a similar story, but without the rape. Ross met her in a store parking lot — they exchanged numbers and started dating. They broke up, then dated again.

Price said Jane described Ross as “aggressive,” with “controlling, stalking behavior.”

Jane finally had enough, Price said, and broke up with Ross again. Jane put a no-contact order on Ross, and never heard from him again.

Price dug some more.

She found the 2002 case of a woman named Jenny who alleged Ross raped her. Her story followed the lines of the other women: Ross approached her in a parking lot and the two exchanged numbers. Jenny eventually went to Ross’s home, where he raped her. Jenny ended up in a woman’s shelter where she finally told her story. They convinced her to go to the police.

She did, Price said, but wasn’t emotionally able to go through the process of pressing charges against Ross. The sheriff’s office held the case until the statute of limitations wore out.

Price discovered a third victim from a 1996 case.

Anna met Ross in a parking lot, too. They exchanged numbers and went on a date. For their second date, Anna made Ross dinner at her house. He raped her afterwards. Anna went to the police, but never pressed charges.

Still digging, Price found Sandy, who was married to Ross in the late ‘80s. Sandy had gotten suspicious of Ross at the time, and had done her own research.

“I thought I was wife number two,” she told Price. “I found out I was wife number five.”

Ross and Sandy had two children together, and Ross fathered a third child with another woman while they were married.

Price found Ross’s third and fourth wives as well as the woman he impregnated while he was with Sandy. Price also talked to Betty, who had lived with Ross, but never married him.

All the women described Ross as aggressive, Price said, and his more recent involvements spoke of alcoholism.

This brought Price back to the Easter Sunday rape of Mary. Six weeks later, Ross married Theresa, whom he met on Match.com. Their union lasted until a verbal argument in September. Theresa left and never came back, Price said.

In October, Ross was arrested in connection with failure to comply with DUI probation, and in November Theresa filed for separation, Price said.

Ross’s juried trial for second-degree rape began on March 9, and he was convicted on March 15.

Price believes Ross’s sentencing will bring relief to women she doesn’t even know about.

Price’s timeline of events pertaining to Ross and his involvement with women contains gaps of several years here and there.

“I think there are lots of other victims out there who have never talked about it,” she said. Price’s instinct agrees with the national statistics.

According to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 60 percent of rape cases go unreported.

Of the minority reported, only 50 percent result in an arrest. Fewer cases still make it through prosecution, conviction and sentencing. In the end, there’s a 16 percent chance the perpetrator of a reported rape case will spend time in prison. When unreported cases are factored in, only 6 percent of perpetrators serve time.

Those numbers, Price said, are why Ross’s conviction is such a big deal, and Price credits Mary’s tenacity. The “distraught but determined” woman Price first met in the hospital proved the cornerstone of the county’s case against Ross.