Man Accused of Raping Lesbian to 'Fix the Gay'

Salt Lake City, Utah police arrested a man on Wednesday who they say raped a lesbian friend in order to "fix the gay." The alleged rapist, Adam Quinn Atwood, 34, was taken into custody for investigation of multiple charges including object rape, forcible sodomy, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault according to Deseret News. Police have not yet decided whether to classify the alleged assault as a hate crime.

According to affidavits in the police report, the unidentified woman visited a friend in Salt Lake City on Sunday evening. Atwood is the friend's husband and was present that evening. At some point the friend fell asleep, and Atwood persuaded the alleged victim to walk with him to the store to purchase more alcohol according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Upon return to the house, the affidavit says Atwood sexually assaulted the victim. When she protested, he is alleged to have questioned if she was truly gay and that he intended to "fix the gay" regardless. He then proceeded to rape her.

The woman was eventually able to escape the house and lock herself within her car. Atwood is alleged to have followed the victim to the car and warned her not to tell anyone about the assault. Ignoring Atwood's threats, she reported the assault to police who corroborated her story.

Atwood is currently being held on $150,000 bond in Salt Lake County jail. Salt Lake City police spokesman Greg Wilking said investigators and prosecutors have yet to determine if additional hate crime charges are warranted.

"We feel for the victim and want to do what is right for her," Wilking said according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Utah is currently ranked 11th in the rate of sexual assault according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting tables. Utah had 55.5 reported rapes per 100,000 persons in 2018, which is higher than the U.S. average of 42.6 per 100,000. The state with the highest rate of rape is Alaska with a rate of 161.6 per 100,000.