Man Receives 8 Years In Prison In Girl's Rape

BELLINGHAM

A Portland, Ore., man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for beating and raping a 16-year-old girl, then abandoning her outdoors without any clothes.

Russell Charles Leininger, 26, fled Washington after the attack on April 14, 1990. He remained at large until July 1992, when he called the FBI from Duluth, Minn., and turned himself in.

Leininger picked up the girl and an 18-year-old friend as they walked along Birch Bay Drive in Bellingham, prosecutors said at trial. He offered to buy the two alcohol, but drove past a store and refused to stop when they demanded to be let out.

The 18-year-old woman tried to step on the brake, but Leininger hit her, prosecutors said. She opened the door and jumped from the vehicle at more than 50 mph, suffering a concussion and cuts and bruises.

The 16-year-old was taken to a secluded area, where she was beaten and raped. When she was abandoned, the girl went to a nearby home and the resident called for help.

Leininger pleaded guilty in December to a rape charge in Whatcom County Superior Court. Two kidnapping charges were dropped under a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Leininger said at sentencing that he wants treatment at the state's sexual-deviancy program at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe.