Man Wanted For Questioning In Strip District Sex Assault Case
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There is new information in an alleged case of sexual assault involving a man from Beaver County and two teenage girls.
Police now say there may be additional teenage victims, and they are also looking for another man they would like to question in the case.
Ralph Ruprecht is facing trial for the alleged rape and sexual assault of two teenage girls. But he may now face more charges as Pittsburgh Police confirm there may be at least four victims.
Police are also looking for a man whom they say is a witness in the case and may have important information to help in the investigation.
During Ruprecht's preliminary hearing earlier this month, a 16-year-old girl testified she met the suspect on the Internet when she was 15 and the two began texting.
She went on to testify that Ruprecht started taking her to an apartment in the Strip District, and that he would allegedly force himself on her when she didn't cooperate.
A second victim told a similar account.
Sources tell KDKA that Ruprecht posed as a woman on the Internet, befriended numerous teenage girls, groomed them, and then lured them to the Strip District apartment.
A woman who runs the building grew suspicious and kicked Ruprecht and others out.
"I was doing office work. I heard some kind of noises, like something was going on. It sounded sexual to me," said Jones back in August. "It was a lot of laughing and groaning; you kind of know what those noises are. I made the assumption. That was the only time sex came to my head."
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter
Sources have indicated at least two other men were involved. But during Ruprecht's hearing, his attorney tried to discredit one of the alleged victims.
"These kind of cases are very fact intensive, and there was a lot of facts that were testified too that are very suspect, inconsistent and quite frankly didn't make sense," said defense attorney Steve Townsend earlier this month.
If you recognize the man Pittsburgh Police are looking for, you are asked to contact them.
