Suspect Arrested in Series of ‘Room for Rent’ Rapes

A Mission Valley collection agency employee was in custody Tuesday in connection with a series of 14 sexual attacks and rapes, including a series of crimes dubbed the “Room for Rent” assaults.

The arrest of Kurt Newman, 33, came after a four-year investigation of rapes and attempted rapes across the city, including attacks at homes in La Jolla and West Point Loma.

Newman, who lives near Mission Trails Regional Park, is also a suspect in attacks in La Mesa. La Mesa officers helped make the arrest.

Newman was arrested at 9:20 a.m. Monday in his office in the 1000 block of Camino del Rio South, said San Diego Lt. Jerry Moody, who is in charge of the department’s sex crimes investigation unit.

Moody said Newman was identified as a suspect in an attempted rape and a rape earlier this year. After Newman was linked to those attacks, a detective following earlier cases “made a connection,” Moody said.

“The detective had been following these series of assaults for several years and heard about the suspect during a sex crimes (police unit) briefing,” Moody said. “She looked at a description of the suspect and noticed some similarities to the earlier series of assaults.”

The 12 earlier rapes occurred in two distinct series, police said.

The first occurred Oct. 21, 1988, in the 6600 block of Mission Gorge Road in San Carlos. During the next four months, Newman allegedly committed three more assaults, the last Feb. 17, 1989, Moody said.

Newman allegedly threatened women with a pistol, and, in three instances, approached his victims in the garage of an apartment building or condominium.

The second series, the so-called “Room for Rent” assaults, involved eight cases from Sept. 21, 1989 to Sept. 25, 1991. In some cases, the assailant told victims he was responding to a “roommate wanted” advertisement. In other cases, he inquired about “for sale” and “for rent” ads. He preyed on women who were alone, Moody said.