Woman Uses Craigslist To Invite Rapists Into Couple’s Home As Revenge For Outbidding Her On Home

A San Diego couple says they were terrorized by a woman after they outbid her on a “dream home.” The woman used Craiglist to invite rapists into the couple’s home by posting photos of the wife, along with her home address, in an ad requesting someone fulfill a “rape fantasy.”

The Daily Mail reports that Jerry Rice, 40, and Janice Ruhter, 37, purchased a home in San Diego, California, in late 2011. The couple outbid another interested buyer, 53-year-old Kathy J. Rowe, to win the property. The couple has a young son and daughter and say that the home purchase led to a series of horrifying events as a result of Rowe’s scorn for being outbid.

Rowe says she really wanted to win the “dream home” for her disabled daughter and sick husband. Therefore, when the other couple outbid her, she was “heartbroken.” Instead of continuing the search for a new dream home, Rowe spent her time trying to terrorize the couple who bought the home. Rowe spent her time and energy tormenting the family by following through with a series of pranks.

“Soon after they moved in, the couple had their mail stopped, $1,000 of magazine subscriptions delivered and Valentine’s cards with Rice’s name sent to other women on their quiet suburban street in Carmel Valley.”

After the issues at the new home, the couple did a Google search on their names and what they found was terrifying. When the couple searched for Janice’s name online, they found a series of startling Craigslist ads with the title, “Carmel Valley Freak Show.” The ads detailed the desire of Janice to have a “rape fantasy” fulfilled. The ad requested that an interested party show up at the couple’s home when Rice was not present and force themselves onto Janice sexually. The ad claimed that Janice had a rape fantasy that included men forcing themselves on her while she said no.

“I love to be surprised and have a man just show up at my door and force his way in the door and on me, totally taking me while I say no.”

The couple claims that at least one man showed up to fulfill the ad, but on one occasion Rice was home to prevent any disturbance and a second time the security fence stopped the potential rapist. The couple told People Magazine that they initially did not know who was behind the vicious attacks on their family. However, following a police investigation, it was discovered that the trail led back to Rowe.

Rowe was charged for the series of pranks and she was sentenced last month to a year of electronic surveillance and five years of probation for terrorizing the family. However, she was able to avoid felony charges of soliciting rape and sodomy and misdemeanor charges of identity theft and harassment for agreeing to a plea bargain in the stalking case.

What do you think about the sentencing? Was the sentence too light for a prank that could have led to the rape of the young mother? What about the mental anguish the family sustained during the time they were being terrorized by Rowe’s Craigslist postings?