Accused rapist sentenced to 30 years for campus rape - faced life

(Original Post 10-20-07)

A Chicasaw County (MS) man charged with stalking a Mississippi State University student has been arrested for the alleged rape of a second MSU student on August 12. Johnny "Radar" Griffihs Jr, 30, a parolee, is being held on $100,000 bond for the two incidents.

The rape occurred near the University Drive bridge that connects the MSU campus to the city of Starkville. An 18-year-old student was jogging at approximately 8:30 p.m. that Sunday when she was ordered by a man who had been hiding in a wooded area to follow him under the bridge. He then raped her.

The assailant was described as a black male in his mid-20s who was reportedly wearing a gray tank top, black shorts and a pair of tan gardening gloves during the time of the incident.

Griffihs is expected to go to trial in January. If convicted of rape, he faces life in prison, and if convicted of sexual assault, he faces 30 years. The case is expected to be heard by a Oktibbeha County grand jury in January.

Reference:

Police arrest campus rape suspect

(Update 7-19-08) Griffiths was sentenced to 30 years without parole after pleading guilty to forcible rape in the attack. He would have faced 3 life sentences if he had gone to trial and been convicted of the original charges of rape, sexual battery, and kidnapping. Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens dropped the sexual battery and kidnapping charges.

Oktibbeha County Assistant District Attorney Frank Clark said Wednesday afternoon that he was seeking a life term for Griffis if he had went to trial.

“That’s what we were hoping he would get if we went to trial,” Clark said. “But that would have required the victim to relive the whole thing again during the trial process.”

Griffis was in the process of stalking another victim when he was captured, and has previous criminal convictions.

When he was taken into custody, Griffis was in the process of stalking another potential victim.This time, a student noticed Griffis following her in his vehicle as she jogged each morning. The student contacted police, so the Starkville and MSU police departments set up a joint sting operation — which included an undercover female SPD officer jogging in the area — to catch Griffis in the act.

On Oct. 3, the student once again noticed Griffis following her, so she called the undercover officer who was jogging nearby and the officer contacted police units in the area. When police confronted Griffis, he was wearing nothing but a T-shirt, boxer shorts and running shoes, Clark said.“At the time, they didn’t know they captured the campus rapist,” Clark said. “They thought they had just captured a stalker.”

His criminal history dates back to 1995 when he was convicted in Chickasaw County court for the sale of cocaine.Griffis found himself on the wrong side of the law again in 2002 when he was convicted in Chickasaw County court on two counts of voyeurism.

Each count brought with it a two-year prison sentence, though it is unclear when he was released.“Basically he was a peeping Tom, which doesn’t sound all that bad in itself, but when you go from voyeurism to stalking to forcible rape, you have to wonder where it was going to stop,” Clark said. “That’s what is so scary about this.”