PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man is facing multiple charges including rape after sexually assaulting, at gunpoint, a woman he met through a dating app, police said. Portland police believe there could be more victims.
Damani Anderson, 18, met the 18-year-old woman on Tinder, according to court documents. Anderson and the woman agreed to explore an abandoned building in North Portland on Aug. 9. As they wandered the property, Anderson came in front of her and pressed a gun to her chest and demanded that she remove her clothing. He made comments about threatening to shoot or kill her, and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents.
Anderson made the woman unlock her cell phone, and he changed the passwords so that he had access to it and reset it, court documents say.
He eventually told the woman to retrieve her clothing and meet him back in a spot where he was. When the woman returned, Anderson was no longer there, court documents say. The woman quickly made her way through the property and was able to get away. She ran across North Columbia Boulevard and into a neighborhood, where she knocked on doors and rang doorbells.
Officers responded to a home near North Woolsey Avenue around 11:30 p.m. after someone called 911 to report that a woman at their door said she had been sexually assaulted and asked for help. The person called police for her.
Around 3 a.m., emergency dispatch received a separate call from a person who knew the victim and requested a welfare check, according to court documents. The person told dispatch that they hadn't heard from the victim since the day before and believed the woman was with Anderson and that she was not safe "due to knowledge of Anderson robbing people at gunpoint in the past," court documents say. The person also said they believed Anderson had the woman's phone and was texting people from it.
On Aug. 15, Portland police and U.S. Marshals took Anderson into custody at his home. He was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, robbery in the first degree and unlawful use of a weapon.
The Portland Police Bureau released Anderson's photo out of concern that there may be other potential victims; numerous women have contacted police to report that they had been sexually assaulted by Anderson after meeting him on different social media platforms. Detectives with PPB's Sex Crimes Unit are investigating those cases.
Anyone with information about this case or have had similar interactions with Anderson should call Detective Kyffin Marcum at Kyffin.Marcum@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case No. 24-200429.
If you or someone you know have experienced sexual assault and need support, help is available. The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.
