E9: The Oildale Serial Rapist

Through the Summer of 1981, there was a serial rapist prowling the streets of Bakersfield.

But you wouldn't have known about it unless you had a connection to law enforcement or a local news reporter. Or were one of his victims, or knew one of his victims. There were no newspaper headlines or nightly TV news stories warning the citizens of Bakersfield that there was a serial rapist.

Police and reporters were privy to that information and they deliberately kept the public in the dark until a suspect was finally arrested four months after the rapes began.