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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 27, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 27, 2005 Rogue Valley rapist sets hostage free at state penitentiary By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Convicted Rogue Valley rapist, kidnapper and three-time prison escapee Leighton Bates is back in a special lockdown at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem after he took a female guard hostage there late Monday before releasing her unharmed early Tuesday. A former Medford and Central Point resident who was considered one of the Rogue Valley’s most dangerous predatory sex offenders, Bates used a homemade weapon called a "shank" to take Cpl. Rebecca McLauchin hostage in a 560-bed medium-security unit. Details about how Bates took McLauchin hostage or how they crossed paths in the 560-bed medium-security unit were not known Tuesday, said Perrin Damon, communications director for the Oregon Department of Corrections. McLauchin was released uninjured at 1 a.m. Tuesday, three hours after her abduction, Damon said. Bates, who has a 20-plus-year history of rapes and prison escapes in Oregon, had been "transitioning" from the penitentiary’s maximum-security unit to "close-custody" status when Monday’s incident occurred, Damon said. Advertisement Bates had been in the maximum-security unit since his latest escape in 2001, and had been on close-custody status — where inmates are among the general population but watched more closely — since Feb. 7, Damon said. After his surrender, Bates was placed in a special unit, where he likely will receive a psychiatric evaluation, Damon said. The Oregon State Police and the corrections department both are investigating the incident. Before the hostage-taking, Bates had racked up enough felony convictions to make Aug. 25, 2057, his earliest possible release date, corrections records show. Bates was convicted of a string of rapes dating back to 1979 in Jackson County. In December 2001, Bates escaped from the Oregon State Correctional Institution by hiding inside a stack of empty milk cartons before they were shrink-wrapped and hauled away. He later kidnapped and raped a Salem woman before he was captured two days later when a state corrections fugitive inspector spotted him rolling a cigarette outside a Salem restaurant. Bates was convicted of nine felonies, including first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, stemming from that crime spree while on the lam. That escape also prompted recommendations for increased security and other changes. In 1992, he escaped from a minimum-security facility in Eastern Oregon but was later captured. In 1984, he scaled a fence at the medium-security prison in Salem and was captured immediately. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Advertisement s