2 UT students say man raped them

3/24/2004

A 25-year-old University of Toledo student testified yesterday that Stephen J. Boyd promised a quick profit of more than $20 on a $5 investment when they met outside a campus bar last fall.

But instead of easy money, the cash-strapped student told a jury in Lucas County Common Pleas Court that Boyd, whom he knew from a class at UT, took him to a vacant apartment near Ottawa Park, where he was beaten and sexually assaulted.

Boyd, 33, of 240 21st St., is standing trial on four counts of rape in the assault of the student on Oct. 2 and the sexual assault of another student on Sept. 28.

Both victims said the defendant, who was paroled from prison in July on vandalism and attempted robbery convictions, lured them to the same abandoned apartment building in the 2200 block of Torrey Hill Drive and raped them.

The 25-year-old student testified he drove to a bar in the 2200 block of Dorr Street, where he met Boyd in the parking lot. He said Boyd then took him to a house in the central city, where he took the victim's $5 and bought crack-cocaine.

After they left there, the student testified that Boyd took him into the apartment and threatened to stab him with an object with a sharp point that resembled a screwdriver.

He said Boyd struck him repeatedly on the face and head and sexually assaulted him. "The whole time I was asking him, 'Why are you doing this to me? Please stop,' " the student told the jury.

The jury on Monday heard the testimony of a 20-year UT student who testified that Boyd took him to the same apartment building four days earlier.

He said Boyd threatened to harm his girlfriend and parents if he didn't submit to his demands.

He said he left his home in West Toledo with the defendant on the pretense of buying beer. Instead, he testified Boyd took him to the apartment and sexually assaulted him.

He said they returned home but went back to the apartment because Boyd said he had lost a necklace. He testified that Boyd pulled a handgun from under a sofa, threatened him, and sexually assaulted him again.

Boyd, who was employed at the university medical center, is expected to take the witness stand today when the trial resumes in the courtroom of Judge William Skow.

In his opening statement, Chuck Boss, Boyd's attorney, said the men went willingly with Boyd to the building and the sex was consensual.