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--> --> Police still searching for prison escapee SALEM (AP) - A convicted rapist who escaped from a state prison Monday and is suspected of sexually assaulting a woman that night may be looking for his next victim, police said Tuesday night. Salem Police Sgt. Mark Chase said a motorist reported picking up a hitchhiker Tuesday that fit the description of Leighton Bates, 41. The motorist dropped him off at a tavern in the southeastern part of the city at about 4:30 p.m. He saw Bates' picture several hours later, and called police at 10 p.m. A woman reported seeing the suspect at 8:45 p.m., two miles north of the tavern. The police have added extra officers to search the area. A day earlier, the suspect confronted a 46-year-old woman as she came into the laundry room of her apartment building, Salem Police Lt. Chuck Bennett said. He threatened her with a sharp-edged instrument and sexually assaulted her. The woman's teen-age son came to the laundry room looking for her. Bates then forced both of them back to the apartment, Bennett said. Bates spent the night there, tying up the son and threatening both of them. He exchanged his prison clothing for some of the teen's clothing. He also took two kitchen-type knives and a black Eddie Bauer backpack with a leather bottom. At about 8 a.m., while her son remained tied up, the woman was forced to drive Bates to Silver Falls State Park east of Salem. He had used her telephone during the night, so police believe he may have planned to meet someone there. The woman drove back to Salem and contacted police. She and her son were taken to a local hospital for treatment and were released. Bates escaped from the medium-security Oregon State Correctional Institute. He apparently wrapped himself in some type of plastic and hid in a delivery truck, said Gerald Long, a corrections department spokesman. Bates was serving time for charges including rape, kidnapping and robbery. The earliest he could have been released was December 2037. He was convicted after he posed in April as a stranded motorist and kidnapped and raped a Eugene teen. Bates escaped from the Salem prison once before, in 1985. In 1992, he escaped from the minimum security Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City. Police ask that anyone who sees Bates call 1-800-452-7888. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing