Case of Brad Lieberman

Case of Brad Lieberman
 

(AKA: The Plumber Rapist)
Skokie, IL
Highland Park, IL
Rogers Park (Chicago), IL
Joliet Jr. College - Joliet, IL

Convicted of seven rapes and one attempted rape. 

This page is dedicated to the brave women who came forward and had their offender prosecuted.  

The Awareness Center is looking for survivors of Brad Lieberman. If you were one of them and would like to be interviewed for a story, please contact Vicki Polin.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:

1979

1. July 18, 1979 - 1st known sexual assault
2. Hypnosis helps cops nab rape suspect: Hypnosis helps cops catch rape suspect
   (12/31/1979)

1980

1. 5 new charges for rape suspect (01/09/1980)
2. Rape suspect free on bond indicted in new attack (05/07/1980)
3. New 'plumber rapist' indictment  (05/10/1980)
4. Mother gives rape suspect alibi  (09/19/1980)
5. N. Side 'plumber- rapist' found guilty (09/23/1980)
6. 'Plumber rapist' convicted for another assault here (10/05/1980)
7. 'Plumber rapist' sentenced  (10/05/1980)

   
1982

1. Court rules rapist term 'excessive' (06/30/1982)
   

1986

1. A tough grind, that prison life (08/13/1986)
2. More Whimpering From Behind Bars (08/27/1986)

2000

1. Rapist challenges law's wording legislation confines violent felons longer (02/05/2000)
2. Rapist's sentence reviewed (03/09/2000)
3. New 'plumber rapist' indictment (05/10/2000)

2001

1. Court Rules State Must Let Rapist Go, Cites Loophole  (03/14/2001)

2006

1.  Area sex offender's freedom weighed (01/25/2006)

2013

1. Serial rapist's suit going to trial: Lieberman alleges sexual harassment by prison worker (01/17/2013) 
2. Sex Offender Registry (01/18/2013)

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Hypnosis helps cops nab rape suspect: Hypnosis helps cops catch rape suspect 

Douglas Frantz 

Chicago Tribune - December 31, 1979

 

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5 new charges for rape suspect  

Chicago Tribune - Jan. 9, 1980

Brad Lieberman, a suspect in six rapes and one attempted rape, was indicted Tuesday by a Cook County grand jury in five more sexual attacks on young women.

Lieberman, 19, of 9008 Lamon Av., Skokie, was charged Tuesday with four rapes and one attempted rape, bringing the total number of rape charges against him to 10, with two charges of attempted rape.

In most of the incidents, which occured on the North Side and in the northern suburbs, the rapist posed as a plumber checking for leaks.

Tuesday's indictments were brought after five women identified Lieberman last week in a lineup in the Criminal Courts Administration building at 26th Street and California Avenue.

New charges against him include rape, unlawful restrain and armed violene.

Most of the victims were in their late teens or early 20s, and the attacks dated back to July 18, 1979, with th emost recent occurring on Dec. 24.

Two of the latest list of sexual assaults took place in the Rogers Park ; the other three in Niles, Northfield Township, and Maine Township.  In some, the assailant carried a knife, in others a handgun.  In one incident, the rapist flashed a badge and was a policeman moonlighting as a plumber.   

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Rape suspect free on bond indicted in new attack  

By Jerry Thornton and Jane Fritsch

Chicago Tribune - May 7, 1980

Brad Lieberman, the accused "plumber rapist," who was arrested for raping a 19-7ear-old foreign exchange student in Highland Park Monday night, was indicted by the Lake County Grand Jury Tuesday on charges of rape, home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, and unlawful restraint.

He was ordered held without bond in the county jail in Waukegan pending a hearing at 2 p.m. Friday before Circuit Judge William D. Block.  

Liberman, 20, was free on $200,000 bond on charges involving sex attacks on a dozen North Sde and north suburban women at the time of his arrest.  

A spokesman for State's Atty. Bernard Carey said he will move to revoke Lieberman's bond in the earlier cases in view of the latest arrest.

LIBERMAN, OF 9008 Lamon Av.,  Skokie, a part-time security guard, was arrested Monday night after two 14-year-old boys gave police the license number of his car.

Michael Augarola, an assistant prosecuter, said he also will seek revocation of Lieberman's bond when he appears next week before Judge Frank Barbaro in Criminal Court to face the earlier charges.

Lieberman, who was indicted in January on 10 charges of rape and two of attempted rape, was released from Cook County Jail in March after his parents put up $20,000 cash –– required 10 per cent of his bond.

He was accused of sexual assaults on 12 young women after getting into thier homes by posing as a plumber checking for leaks.

The foreign exchange student told police she admitted the suspect to the suburban home in which she was staying when he asked to use the telephone because his car broke down.  

She said he threatened her with a gun, slapped her , and forced her into an upstairs bedroom, where he raped her and robbed her of $200.

Two boys returning from school jotted down the auto's model and license number when they say the man run from the house.

A description of the car was broadcast and Cook County sheriff's police spotted it at 6 p.m. in a restaurant parking lot on Golf Road in an unicorporated area near Niles.

Lieberman was arrested in the car, which reportedly belonged to his girlfriend, and turned over to Highland Park police.  

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New 'plumber rapist' indictment
By Jane Fitsch
Chicago Tribune - May 10, 1980

Twenty-year-old Brad Lieberman, the accused "plumber rapist," was indicted by a Cook County grand jury Friday on still another rape charge bringing the total number of charges to 12 rapes and two attempted rapes.

The latest indictment charged that Leiberman, while out on $20,000 cash bond in Cook County after being indicted for 10 rapes and two attempted rapes, sexually attacked an 18-year-old Arlington Heights woman on April 21.

On Tuesday, Lieberman was indicted by a Lake County grand jury on charges of rape, home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, and unlawful restraint.  Those charges stemmed from an attack on a 19-year-old foreign exhchange student in Highland Park on Monday––also while he was out on bond.

Assistant State's Atty. Michael Angarola said Lieberman is being held in Lake County.  On Monday, Lieberman is scheduled to appear before Criminal Court Judge Frank Barbaro in Cook County on a motion by the state's attorney's office to have the bond revoked.

Lieberman of 9008 Lamon Av., Skokie, was dubbed the "plumber rapist' because many of his alleged victims charged that he gained entrance to their homes by claiming to be a plumber assigned to check the plumbing.  

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Mother gives rape suspect alibi  
By Bonita Brodt
Chicago Tribune - September 19, 1980

The mother of Brad Lieberman, the accused "plumber rapist," testified in her son's defense Thursday.  She claimed Liberman was with her during the time prosecutors charged he posed as a plumber and raped a 22-year-old woman who had let him into her North Side apartment to check for plumbing leadks.

However, Mrs. Harriet Lieberman, who first told jurors that her son drove a red-and-white Pontiac to her home on the morning of Dec. 17, 1979, appeared to contradict herself under cross-examination.  She said she "didn't know" if her son had driven the car to her Des Plaines home that day or not.

That car, with license plates 67714, led police officers to Lieberman, a 20-year-old former security guard and bar bouncer who is under indictment for 11 rapes and two attempted rapes in Cook County and one rape in Lake County.

The North Side woman, a university teaching assistant, has identified Lieberman in a lineup and pointed him out in court as the man who raped her Dec. 17.

Although he is accused of may rapes, Lieberman is on trial now for just one of them.  But because prosecutors Michael Angarola and William Haddad are attempting to establish "striking similarity" among all the rapes of which Lieberman has been accused.  Criminal Court Judge Frank W. Barbaro has allowed them to introduce the testimony of two other rape victims.  Both has identified Lieberman as the man who posed as a plumber checking for leaks and who raped them once he was inside their apartments.

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N. Side 'plumber- rapist' found guilty
By Bonita Brodt 
Chicago Tribune - September 23, 1980

Brad Lieberman, the man prosecuted charge has raped at least 11 women by posing as a plumber, was found guilty Monday of raping a 22-year-old North Side woman who said she let him into her apartment to check for plumbing leaks.

A criminal court jury of four women and eight men deliberated an hour and 40 mintues before returning a guilty verdict against Lieberman, a former security guard who took courses in criminal law.  

Tears streamed down the 20-year-old Lieberman's cheeks as the verdict was announced.  The tall, muscular Lieberman, who contended he was "the wrong man" glanced at the celling in shook his head in apparent amazement as one of his alleged victims broke out in a short burst of applause.

Lieberman, who was described by prosecutors Michael Angarola and William Haddas as a "cunning and deceitful man' who "lulled (his victims) into trusting him" is under indictment for 10 rapes and two attempted rapes in Cook County and one in Lake County. 

State's Atty. Bernard Carey, who came to Judge Frank W. Barbaro's courtroom for the verdict, said the maximum penalty for rape plus an extended term will be sought on this conviction, which means Lieberman could be sentenced to prison for 60 years.

Carey also said Lieberman would be tried separetely on every other rape charge against him.

"He is one of the moste dangerous rapists we have had in Cook County in recent years because of this ability to gain the confidence of his victims." Carey said.  "We want him locked up for as long as possible."

Because prosecutors were attempting to establish a "striking similarity" in al the rapes of which Lieberman has been accused, Judge Barbara allowed them to introduce testimony of two other rape victims who identified Lieberman in police lineups and in court as the man who posed as a plumber and raped them.

Lieberman denied all three rapes. 

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'Plumber rapist' convicted for another assault here
 Chicago Tribune - October 5, 1980

Brad Lieberman, the so-called "plumber rapist" convicted last month of raping a North Side woman, has been convicted for the rape of a visiting foreign student in Highland Park.

A Lake County jury deliberated for about five hours Friday before convicting Lieberman, 20, on charges of rape, robbery, and intimidation stemming from the May 5, assault.

Lieberman was found guilty Sept. 22 of raping a 22-year-old North Side woman who said she let him into her apartment to check for plumbing leaks.

Lieberman, of Skokie, is also under indictment for nine additional rapes and two attempted rapes in Cook Couty.

Authorities gave Lieberman his nickname because of the method used in most of the rapes with which he is charged.  In most cases, the rapist gained entrance to the women's apartments by posing as a plumber checking for leaks.

Lieberman faces sentencing Nov. 14 before Lake County Circuit Judge William Block in the Highland Park rape, according to Lake County assistant State's Atty. Lawrence Helms. 

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'Plumber rapist' sentenced
By Bonita Brodt
Chicago Tribune - October 15, 1980  

Brad Lieberman, the convicted "plumber rapist," tearfully proclaimed his innocence Tuesday as he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for posing as a plumber was raping a 22-year-old North Side woman .

"True enough, things look bad."  Lieberman said.  "It looks like I did it.  It makes me look like a rapist." 

"But I'm not," The 20-year-old former security guard and criminal justice student insisted, wiping tears from his cheek.  "I jut can't stand being in  prison.  I didn't do it."  

 Lieberman, who was described by prosecutors Michael Angarola and William Haddad as a "decietful and cunning" man, is accused of raping 11 women in Cook and Lake counties.

 He has been convicted of two rapes, Sept. 22 for the December, 1979, rape of the North Side woman, and Oct. 3, when he was convicted by jurors in ake Couty for a rape there. 

 At Lieberman's sentencing hearing Tuesday, Criminal Court Judge Frank W. Barbaro hard six women testify that Lieberman had raped them.

Mrs. Harriet Lieberman, who tetified as an alibi witness for her son in his Cook Couty rape trial, wrote in a small notebook as each of the women recounted details of her rape, identified Lieberman as the assailant, and told of nightmares and other emotional problems suffered since the rape.

There was loud applause from the women and their friends, who filled two rows in the courtroom, as Barbaro, noting Lieberman's Lake County conviction and the "great emotional trauma' the women had suffered, sentenced Liberman to prison.

"throw them out," Lieberman's fathr, Sy, yelled when the applause broke out.

Barbbaro said that while there was o reat physical trauma infliected upon Lieberma's vitims, "There was and remains a great emotional trauma" suffered by the women, whih might take yars to heal.

Throughout his trial, Lieberman contended that the court had "the wrong man" an that he was innocent.

"I feel very sorry for these women, because I know they have been terrorized," Lieberman tearfully told Barbaro, "but I cant' just picture some guy laughing because I am going to prison for what he did."

Lieberman's attorney, William Winn, filed notice to appeal the sentence but withdrew as his counsel.  Barbaro then instructed Lieberman to file an affidavit about his financial status so he could be considered for reprentation by a public defender.   
 

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Court rules rapist term 'excessive'
Chicago Tribune - June 30, 1982

 

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A tough grind, that prison life  

By Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune - August 13, 1986

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More Whimpering From Behind Bars
By Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune - August 27, 1986  

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Rapist challenges law's wording legislation confines violent felons longer

By Cornelia Grumman

Chicago Tribune - Feb. 5, 2000

A missing word in a new state law should allow Brad Lieberman, the notorious "plumber rapist," to go free now that the Skokie native has completed his 20-year sentence, his attorney argued Friday in Cook County Criminal Court. 

Judge William Wood isn't buying that argument, but the attorney promises it will re-emerge on appeal if Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan wins indefinite commitment of Lieberman under the 1998 Sexually Violent Persons Act. 

The technicality is that the new law does not specify "rape" as an offense. In 1984, officials abolished that term and started substituting the broader "criminal sexual assault," partly in order to include incest and other sex crimes in the charge. 

"He is not subject to this act," said Lieberman's attorney, Christopher Canning. "The attorney general is saying it's merely a legislative oversight. That's their argument, and I think it's incorrect." 

Lieberman was convicted of seven rapes in Cook and Lake Counties and was a suspect in at least five more, according to Assistant Atty. Gen. Clyde Lemons. To gain entry into the women's homes, Lieberman posed as a plumber checking for leaks. 

Under the law, a former inmate can be confined in a mental health facility until psychologists believe he is not a risk or until he dies. 

Lieberman was supposed to be freed Jan. 9, but he remains at Sheridan Correctional Center until a jury determines whether he still poses a danger to society. 

"With somebody who committed that many rapes, you can't tell me the legislature didn't have that in mind when they said somebody was sexually violent," Lemons said. 

Lieberman, 40, has long maintained his innocence. His attorney argues that he has served his sentence and should be allowed to live independently.

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Rapist's sentence reviewed

By Brian Cox and Sue Laue

Chicago Tribune - March 9, 2000

"Plumber Rapist" Brad Lieberman likely will remain behind bars for at least another year or two because the Illinois Appellate Court indicated this week that it would consider his case. 

The Skokie native, convicted two decades ago of a series of rapes, recently completed his sentence. But Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan is trying to keep him behind bars indefinitely under a new law for sexually violent offenders, even though the law doesn't specifically state the charge under which Lieberman was convicted. 

In an oversight among authors of the Sexually Violent Persons Act of 1998, the law states it applies to felons who have been convicted of various forms of "criminal sexual assault," but omits the now- obsolete charge of "rape." 

Attorneys for Lieberman appealed a recent ruling of Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas R. Fitzgerald that the rapist should be subject to the 1998 law. 

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New 'plumber rapist' indictment
By Jane Fritsch
Chicago Tribune - May 10, 1980

Twenty-year-old Brad Lieberman, the accused "plumber rapist," was indicted by a Cook County grad jury Friday on till another rape charge, bringing the total number of charges to 12 rapes and two attempted rapes.

The last indictment charged taht Lieberman, while out on $20,000 cash bond in Cook County after being indicted for 10 rapes and two attempted rapes, sexually attacked an 18-year-old Arlington Heights woman on April 21.

On Tuesday, Lieberman was indicted by a Lake County grand jury on charges of rape, home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, ad unlawful restraint.  Those charges stemmed from an attack on a 19-year-old foreign exchange student from Highland Park on Monday –– also while he was out on bond.

Assistant States's Atty. Michael Angarola said Lieberman is being held in Lake County.  On Monday, LIeberman is scheduled to appear before Criminal Court Judge Frank Barbaro in Cook County on the motion by the state's attorney's office to have his bond revoked.

Lieberman of 9008 Lamon Av., Skokie, was dubbed the "Plumber rapist" because many of his alleged victims charged that he gaine entrance to their homes by claiming to be a plumber assigned to check the plumbing. 

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Court Rules State Must Let Rapist Go, Cites Loophole 

By Robert Becker 

Chicago Tribune - March 15, 2001

The Illinois Appellate Court on Tuesday cleared the way for a man convicted of seven sexual assaults to go free, declaring that he is not subject to an Illinois law that keeps sexual predators off the streets even after their prison sentences have expired. 

Brad Lieberman, 41, of Skokie, was convicted of rape in connection with attacks in Cook and Lake Counties. He is not subject to the state's Sexually Violent Persons Act because of what amounts to a loophole in the law, the court ruled. 

The law did not originally specify rape as one of the offenses subject to its provisions. The loophole has since been closed by the legislature. 

In 1984, the charge of rape was eliminated and the broader "criminal sexual assault" was used instead partly to include incest and other sex crimes in the charge. 

Appellate Court Judge Margaret Stanton McBride noted that while the state's arguments are "compelling" that the failure of the law to include rape was a legislative "oversight," the justices were bound by "the plain language of the statute." 

Kimball Anderson, Lieberman's attorney, praised the court's decision, saying his client has served his time and should be released immediately. 

"He's served his full sentence; he's paid whatever dues he owes to society," Anderson said, adding that he planned to initiate proceedings to have his client freed. 

But Dan Curry, a spokesman for Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan, whose office filed the motion for a civil commitment of Lieberman once his prison sentence ended, said steps would be taken to keep the man locked up. 

"We are reviewing all our legal options to attempt to prevent his release," said Curry. "We believe that there is substantial probability that Mr. Lieberman will re-offend." 

Curry said his office was unaware of any other individuals affected by the Appellate Court ruling. 

Lieberman, who served 20 years in prison, was convicted of seven rapes and was a suspect in at least five more, according to state officials. To gain entry into the women's homes, Lieberman posed as a plumber checking for leaks. 

Under the law, an offender who has served his sentence can be confined in a mental health facility until psychologists believe he is not a risk or until he dies. 

According to Ryan's office, since the law was passed in 1998, about 170 individuals convicted of sexually violent crimes have been kept off the street after their prison sentences have ended. 

Lieberman was to be freed Jan. 9, 2000, but the Illinois attorney general's office filed a motion to have him kept in state custody. 

Prosecutors said a psychological evaluation of Lieberman, conducted shortly before his prison sentence was about to end, concluded there was a substantial probability that he would attack other victims. 

Lieberman has long maintained his innocence. His attorneys have argued that having served his sentence, he should now be freed.

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Area sex offender's freedom weighed

Chicago Tribune - January 26, 2006

A jury at the Criminal Courts Building began hearing evidence Tuesday on whether a 46-year-old Skokie man should be kept off the streets despite serving a prison sentence for a series of sexual attacks in the 1970s and 1980s. 

The Illinois attorney general's office is arguing for a civil commitment of Brad Lieberman under the Sexually Violent Persons Act. He was convicted of seven rapes and was charged in several others. 

Lieberman's attorneys argue their client successfully completed a 20-year prison sentence in 1999. He has maintained his innocence and currently is detained at an Illinois Department of Human Services facility. 

Reviews of Lieberman's case show he is at high risk to offend again if allowed back into public life, Jacqueline Buck, a clinical psychologist and evaluator for the Illinois Department of Corrections, testified Tuesday.

 

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Serial rapist's suit going to trial: Lieberman alleges sexual harassment by prison worker

Chicago Tribune - January 17, 2013

A serial rapist's sexual harassment lawsuit against a female prison worker can go to trial, a federal judge has ruled. 

Brad Lieberman, dubbed the "Plumber Rapist" for a string of attacks he made on women on Chicago's North Side and four suburbs in 1979 while posing as a plumber, claims prison worker Victoria Doll groped him, solicited sex from him and then had him investigated when he refused to sleep with her. 

She does not dispute the conduct but says in court papers it did not qualify as sexual harassment, an argument the judge didn't buy. 

A Skokie native, Lieberman over about six months attacked at least eight women after gaining their trust by flashing a badge and claiming to be a plumber checking for leaks. Sixteen women identified him as their attacker. He was convicted of seven rapes and one attempted rape. 

The part-time security guard was arrested after a police officer from the Rogers Park district went under hypnosis so he could remember the first three digits on the license plates on a car he had stopped. Those numbers matched those reported by a woman's boyfriend who prevented an attempted rape. 

Lieberman spent 20 years in prison after being convicted of rape charges in Lake and Cook counties. The state then successfully petitioned in 2000 to have him designated a sexually violent person, meaning he can be civilly detained in a treatment program, possibly for the rest of his life. 

That same year, Lieberman sued Doll and prison officials on various grounds. Last week, a federal judge dismissed all the claims except the sexual harassment counts against Doll and one against the estate of a prison doctor, now deceased, who allegedly stopped prescribing medication for Lieberman's thyroid disease. 

Lieberman said Doll, who worked at the Sheridan prison as a security therapy aide, groped him, danced in front of him suggestively, told him he "turned her on," wrote him letters and left him a cassette tape with a recording of her singing and moaning Lieberman's name. She also said, "Tell me you're my boyfriend ... and everything will be fine." 

When he wouldn't sleep with her, Doll told him she would "bring (him) down" and then reported him for "inappropriate behavior." Lieberman was confined to his room for a week while authorities investigated the report. 

Lieberman then gave prison officials a letter describing her behavior; when confronted, Doll resigned. He also filed a lawsuit, claiming her actions left him embarrassed and humiliated.

"Doll's statements, notes and gifts to Lieberman made it clear she was actively pursuing a romantic or sexual relationship with him," Judge John J. Tharp Jr. wrote in his ruling. "Such conduct by a person in a position of power or control -- be it a guard, a boss, a teacher -- over the target of the advances is a hallmark of harassing behavior." 

Lieberman, who a state expert previously testified is a psychopath, is currently housed at the Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility. 

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Sex offender Registry
Illinois Department of Corrections - January 18, 2013

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