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N.H. rape suspect still in Brussels

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Patrick Markey

The ex-convict accused of raping two Irish students at gunpoint two months ago in New Hampshire is still being held in Brussels as U.S. and Belgian officials hash out paperwork in preparation for his extradition to America.

Steven Gordon, 28, is being held in custody in Brussels on an arrest warrant charging him with kidnapping and raping two Irish students in Portsmouth in late July. After the alleged attack, investigators say Gordon fled the country, flying to Holland and making his way to Belgium where he turned himself in to officials at the American Embassy in Brussels.

Police in Portsmouth are waiting for a date for the extradition hearing while officials sort through the paperwork involved, said Captain Adam Price of the Portsmouth Police detectives unit.

According to law enforcement officials, Gordon allegedly approached the two women near the beach in the early hours of Saturday, July 18. He showed them a handgun and them forced them into his car. After driving them to a desolate area near a graveyard, Gordon allegedly sexually assaulted both of the women. The victims, both in their 20s, had been working in the U.S. for the summer. They managed to get help from a nearby house after the attack.

Investigators believe the weapon used to threaten the women was a plastic pellet gun purchased at a local Wal-Mart store. Police tracked Gordon down after detectives discovered a car rented under his name at the site of the assault.

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The warrant charges him with aggravated felonious assault and kidnapping. He had already served a five-year jail term for sexual assault and was on probation after being released last year. Police said Gordon is also wanted for questioning about a string of robberies and the rape of a New Hampshire woman earlier in July.

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