A man facing rape charges, whom police described as a “great concern to the community,” is still behind bars, despite not being listed as an inmate at Spokane County Jail.
A KREM 2 viewer reached out after noticing the discrepancy and expressed their concern.
However, Opeyemi Ekundayo is still in custody and awaiting trial. He faces two rape charges, a kidnapping charge and a charge of unlawful imprisonment. He was arrested almost a month ago.
Court documents outlined multiple attacks on women and attempted contact with children.
An excerpt from documents said “Although he was homeless and living out of his car, he seemed to be a menace to society, specifically the South Hill part of town. He was exhibiting some predatory behaviors toward females and children.”
Ekundayo has an extensive criminal history including trespassing, stalking, indecent liberties and assault on police officers.
Documents said he got kicked out of his last apartment building after several women complained about sexual advances.
In March, a woman came forward saying he took her puppy into his apartment. When she followed him in to get her dog back, he slammed the door and sexually assaulted her.
In May, Spokane police said he raped a teenager who was staying at a Spokane shelter.
“These are what appear to be random attacks on women in Spokane. The juvenile attack is very disturbing. It is a forcible rape of a 16-year-old girl after she was potentially drugged by the alleged defendant," the prosecutor on the case said at the time.
Detectives on the case said they are extremely concerned about Ekundayo’s pattern of behavior.
“In special victims, we pay very close attention to patterns of behavior and return offenders. When we see a pattern of behavior or somebody coming up over and over that is doing the same type of offense, we worry about behavior starting to escalate,” explained Sergeant Mike McNab of the SPD special victims unit.
Documents said parents also reported seeing Ekundayo hanging around the Southside Sports Complex during kids’ sporting events. One parent said he approached her son.
In court at his first appearance hearing, Ekundayo denied the charges against him and represented himself.
He was also hostile toward the judge. He rambled about his aviation experience and contacting several presidents and kept his hand up the entire time even though the judge told him he was not under oath and to put it down.
It appears that kind of behavior has continued since that first day in court. A check of his file shows he wrote a letter to Judge Annette Plese, demanding evidence against him.
Judge Plese responded to inform Ekundayo he needs to go through his attorney. He has since been appointed a public defender, so he is no longer representing himself.
Court records show his attorney filed a motion to have him undergo a competency evaluation through the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Eastern State Hospital attempted to schedule the competency evaluation, but Ekundayo refused to cooperate, according to court records.
A licensed psychologist recommended he be moved to Eastern State Hospital for the remaining 14 days of his competency evaluation period "in order to gain adequate data to form an opinion regarding his competency."
Detectives could not comment on his exact status, but confirmed he is still in custody.