Child rape victim might not recall attack

LAS VEGAS -- The mother of a girl who was videotaped being raped years ago had no idea of the abuse before last week, when a friend saw the child's face on the news and called her, the woman's attorney said Tuesday.

Attorney Jerry Donohue called the woman "a typical American single mother" who worked six days a week and was "trying to be 'supermom.' " He said the abuse appeared to have taken place about four years ago while the child was left in a baby sitter's care.

The girl, now 7, appeared to be a "happy, perfectly healthy little girl" during a recent afternoon with medical professionals, Donohue said during a brief statement outside his Las Vegas office. He said that given the six-month time frame the mother believes the abuse could have taken place, the girl might have assaulted shortly before she turned 3.

"I believe she has no memory of this event," Donohue said, although he added that he could not be sure.

Authorities released portions of the video last week, desperate to find a child they feared could still have been in danger.

Donohue said the mother had no relationship with a man being sought in the attack. Police and the FBI are conducting a nationwide manhunt for Chester "Chet" Arthur Stiles, 37, whom they consider armed and dangerous.

Police said they believe Stiles is the man who raped and videotaped the girl. He has not been charged in the attack but is wanted in a separate case.

Stiles has been described as a violent survivalist who always carries a weapon and has a string of arrests dating to 1999.

The mother had "no relationship with Stiles. None at all," Donohue said. "This event is believed to have occurred while she was at work."

Donohue said he knows who the baby sitter was when the mother believes the girl was attacked, but could not reveal that information because of the police investigation.

Donohue pleaded for privacy for the family, and said the mother was cooperating with the police search. He would not identify the woman and asked that photos of the girl no longer be publicized.

Authorities have said the 30-minute tape was recorded four years ago in Las Vegas and surfaced last month. Donohue told reporters that neither he nor the mother have seen it.

Donohue said he hoped the young girl's attacker would be captured or kill himself.

"Speaking as a father myself, I wish the guy would dig a hole in the desert and put a gun in his mouth," Donohue said. "Wild West justice, the way I see it."

Police Capt. Vincent Cannito said police were checking hundreds of tips received since authorities named Stiles as the suspect in the case. He called Stiles "a very dangerous individual" with a violent past.

Stiles was being sought on an unrelated warrant issued last year charging him with fleeing to avoid prosecution on allegations he groped a 6-year-old girl in 2003.

Police have said Stiles has a string of arrests on charges including assault, battery, resisting a police officer, auto theft, leaving the scene of an accident and contempt of court.

He was convicted in 1999 in Las Vegas of carrying a concealed weapon, and in 2001 of conspiracy to commit grand larceny, according to court records. Stiles also pleaded no contest in Houston in 1993 to unlawful carrying of a weapon.

The district attorney in Nye County, where authorities first learned of the tape and pleaded for help to find the girl last week, also identified Stiles as a "survivalist type" who claimed to have weapons, a Navy SEAL background and always carried a knife. However, District Attorney Bob Beckett said he could not confirm the information.

Tina Allen, a former girlfriend in Las Vegas, told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday night that she worried Stiles might emerge from hiding to harm her and said she would seek police protection.

Las Vegas police spokesman Jose Montoya said Tuesday that detectives hoped to meet with Allen by today.

The video came to light last month after a man claimed to have found it in the desert outside Pahrump, a Nye County town about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. Sheriff's officials said Darrin Tuck, 26, had it for as long as five months and showed it to others before turning it in.

Tuck was being held after his arrest on a probation violation, and will likely face pornography charges, Beckett said.

The Associated Press is no longer identifying or releasing photos of the girl because she is a suspected victim of sexual abuse. It did so earlier in the interest of her safe recovery.