08/28/2002

Associated Press

A relative of the 19-year-old woman whose allegations of rape have Ward Weaver behind bars said she, too, was sexually assaulted by Weaver, police said.

The alleged attack happened in the weeks after Weaver identified himself as the prime suspect in the case of two missing Oregon City girls.

Oregon City Police Chief Gordon Huiras told The Oregonian that the new claims were made after the 19-year-old reported the alleged rape on Aug. 13.

Oregon City Police Lt. Mike Jarvis said he thinks the latest sexual assault allegations will be taken to a grand jury for an indictment.

Ward Weaver escorted to jail. (KGW File Photo)

Besides the rape charge and any new charges the second sexual-assault investigation might bring, Weaver is expected to face charges in the deaths of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, two friends and classmates whose remains were found behind his rental house during the weekend.

The Clackamas County district attorney's office has said it would seek an indictment against Weaver in the deaths of Ashley and Miranda. First, investigators must sift through all the evidence that was taken from the house in a search that began Saturday.

Weaver is being held in jail in lieu of $1 million bail on charges of rape, assault and sexual abuse stemming from the case of the 19-year-old, who is also the girlfriend of Weaver's son.

Weaver pleaded innocent Aug. 21.

The 19-year-old woman who accused Weaver of rape ran from his house covered only in a tarp. She alleged that Weaver attacked her in his daughter's bedroom.

At the time, she told police, she was thinking about Ashley and Miranda and feared Weaver would kill her. She escaped after she told him to think of his grandson, who is her son.

Minutes after she called police, Weaver's oldest son, Francis, called 9-1-1 and told a dispatcher that his father had admitted raping and killing Ashley and Miranda.

Weaver's attorney, Tim Lyons, said Tuesday that he had not heard of the sexual assault allegations made against Weaver by the 19-year-old's young relative.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)