Springfield tunnel rape suspect might be 'sexually violent predator,' state says

The Missouri Attorney General's Office says a Springfield man accused of raping two strangers 15 years apart might be a "sexually violent predator."

The state filed a petition last week asking the Department of Mental Health to evaluate 32-year-old Josh Graham.

Graham has a 2003 conviction for sexual assault and was charged again in July after police say he raped an 18-year-old woman who was walking through the pedestrian tunnel near Washington Avenue and Commercial Street.

Court documents say Graham did not know the victim in either case.

The state is asking for the Department of Mental Health to determine whether Graham has a "mental abnormality" that makes him likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined.

If Graham is found to be a sexually violent predator, he will be held in a secure mental health facility until he is deemed safe to be at large.

He also faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence.

Graham's attorney, Dee Wampler, is arguing Graham is not a danger to society.

Wampler filed a motion last week asking Graham's bond be lowered from $500,000 to $100,000. Wampler wrote that Graham is gainfully employed and "agrees to obey all reasonable orders."

Graham is scheduled to go before a judge again on Monday.

On March 29, police say Graham followed an 18-year-old woman into the pedestrian tunnel that goes under the railroad tracks near Commercial Street. Graham allegedly pushed the victim against the wall, covered her mouth to muffle her screams and then raped her.

Afterward, police say Graham used his cellphone to photograph the woman's ID cards and threatened to retaliate if she told anyone what happened.

A shoe print left at the scene helped police tie Graham to the case.

Graham's prior conviction for forcible sexual assault is from 2003 when he was a teenager.

According to court documents in that case, Graham waited in the unlocked apartment of a neighbor he did not know.

When the woman returned home, Graham threw a blanket over her head, wrestled her to the ground and raped her, according to court documents.

Court documents say Graham was released from prison in the first rape case in July 2017 and quickly became the subject of two police reports.

A month after Graham's release, a woman reportedly told police she found his wallet underneath a bedroom window of her home.

A few months after that, Graham was investigated for allegedly masturbating in his car in view of a woman at a Springfield Walmart.

In its petition, the state writes that Graham might qualify as a sexually violent predator because he has a conviction for a sexually violent offense and has committed a recent overt act.

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