Franklin D. Abellera - Repeat Sex Offender - Arrested for Rape

A registered sex offender accused of threatening to "knife" a woman as he sexually assaulted her has been charged with second-degree rape.

According to police reports, the woman was walking on South 240th Street in Des Moines on Sept. 13 when Franklin D. Abellera, 48, pulled up beside her in his Chevy sedan. The woman told officers he grabbed her, threatened to stab her and forced her into the car,

Abellera, she said, then parked the car in the driveway of an abandoned home, where he raped her. The woman called police minutes later, reporting the assault.

Using the description of Abellera's vehicle, Des Moines police were able to trace the car to Abellera. The woman then identified him through a photo montage; officers arrested him at his Eatonville home.

Requesting that he be held on $1 million bail, prosecutors noted in charging documents that Abellera is a registered sex offender due to a 1981 rape conviction and faces an indeterminate sentence if convicted that could see him confined for life.

Abellera remains jailed.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte