Riverfront Park scene of afternoon rape

Some visitors at Riverfront Park this afternoon ended up as witnesses to an apparent sex crime. Around 1:45 p.m. Riverfront Park security staff received a call from park visitors who said two 60-year-olds were having sex in some bushes, close to the playground near the old YMCA building. “Park staff found a male performing oral sex on a female, and he immediately became combative,” said Sgt. Tim Moses with the Spokane Police Department. “They called us. His being combative was reason enough for us to detain him.” The male turned out to be 53-year-old Terry Lee Thomas of Spokane. The unidentified woman is 27; witnesses told SPD that the two had met each other for the first time today. “Both were extremely intoxicated,” Moses said. “Lots of people saw them and heard them.” Some saw the woman push Thomas away and try to get her clothes back on, Moses said, but Thomas continued to pull her clothes off. There were many people at the park Saturday afternoon. “There were kids, grandmothers and wives all over the place,” Moses said. The woman was taken to the hospital and Thomas was booked into jail. Moses said Thomas will be charged with second-degree rape. “Regardless of intoxication level, a no is a no,” Moses said.