PHOENIX — Phoenix police reports from nearly six years ago raise new questions about why accused serial rapist James Estep wasn’t stopped sooner.
According to one of the reports, a Phoenix detective assigned to the case was unaware a sex assault kit had been performed on the victim.
In another incident report from 2018, the victim claimed Estep raped her multiple times and told police back then that “…she had a sore throat because of how hard James was choking her.”
No rape kit was performed, but the report said the victim was willing to aid in prosecution and provided pictures. The detective later said he couldn’t reach the victim, but the police report showed the detective had the wrong number and only attempted to contact the victim by email and mailing a postcard.
“This investigation is closed. The investigation, however, will be re-opened in the event [victim’s name] participates in a comprehensive interview regarding the matter,” the officer wrote in a 2018 incident report.
Details about the previous Phoenix cases came to light after Estep was indicted on 30 felony charges, including 20 counts of sexual assault in August after he was accused of violently raping a teenager. Six of the charges Estep is currently facing stem from the 2018 case where Phoenix police officers had the wrong number for the victim.
According to the police report, officers were able to conduct a comprehensive interview with the victim in the 2018 case after they went to her home and left a business card following a request from the county attorney’s office earlier this year.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said attacks on at least six alleged victims happened from 2018 to August of 2023 in Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe. Mesa police arrested Estep twice this year, but Maricopa County prosecutors declined to move forward with sexual assault charges, which allowed for his release from custody.
A month after he was released, Tempe police arrested Estep in August following an hours-long standoff at his Mesa home. Police say he violently raped a 15-year-old girl after offering her a ride at a light rail station.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has defended her office’s decision. She said prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to move forward with charges after Estep’s two previous arrests.
The ABC15 Investigators waited more than two months for Phoenix police to release reports from cases in 2017, 2018, and 2020 where Estep was accused of sex crimes.
According to all three reports, in July 2023, a detective with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office requested Phoenix police attempt to locate the victims in these cases and find out if they wanted to move forward with the investigation. The request came after the second time prosecutors declined to file charges and sent the case back to Mesa police for further investigation.
During a case review in the 2017 case, a Phoenix officer wrote in July 2023, “the assigned detective for this case was not aware that a sex assault kit had been obtained from [victim’s name].”
The report said the officer later learned a separate incident report had been created after the victim called police six hours after the original report was taken and asked police to transport her to have the exam conducted.
According to the incident report, the sexual assault examination report was added to the original report in July 2023 – nearly six years later. The report also said the lab found a DNA profile in 2020 and further analysis required the victim’s cooperation. But officers said recent attempts to reach the victim were not successful, preventing the 2017 from moving forward.
According to the 2020 incident report, when reached by phone earlier this year, the victim agreed to participate in a comprehensive interview, but the victim didn’t show up, preventing that case from continuing.
ABC15 asked Phoenix police if officers could have done more in these cases and potentially have stopped Estep sooner.
Phoenix police said in a statement the department was aware of the sexual assault kit that was collected from the victim in the 2017 case, even though the assigned detective was not according to the report, but additional analysis was not possible without the victim’s cooperation.
As for the 2018 case, Phoenix PD said the original detective made multiple attempts to reach the victim by the contact information in the report, but a spokesperson confirmed officers did not make any additional attempts to locate the victim until MCAO asked them to find the victim earlier this year.
Estep is currently being held without bond at the Maricopa County Jail.
