Southern California woman in revenge scheme pleads guilty

SAN DIEGO - A San Diego woman pleaded guilty to a felony charge of stalking in connection with a bizarre rape-solicitation scheme carried out against a couple who outbid her for her dream house.

In exchange for Kathy Rowe's stalking plea, prosecutors agreed to drop felony charges of soliciting rape and sodomy and misdemeanor charges of identity theft and harassment, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday (http://lat.ms/1yXwhHL ).

Rowe, 53, claimed the scheme was a childish prank that got out of control and she intended no harm.

She began by carrying out mild hoaxes on the young husband-and-wife homebuyers like putting a stop on their mail and sending religious missionaries to their doorstep.

Her actions soon became criminal, prosecutors said. Rowe allegedly posed as the wife in online adult entertainment ads titled "Carmel Valley Freak Show," inviting strange men over to the couple's home for sex and describing scenarios of a rape fantasy to those who responded. The wife's photo and address were included in the postings.

"I love to be surprised and have a man just show up at my door and force his way in the door and on me, totally taking me while I say no," Rowe wrote to one man who responded, U-T San Diego reported earlier this year (http://bit.ly/1lJ7fGW ).

One man decided to follow up on the offer, but he was thwarted once by a locked gate and a second time when the husband answered the door.

Two men who responded to the sex ads said they understood they were for consensual sex.

Conviction of soliciting rape would have required Rowe to register for life as a sex offender. Rowe could face up to three years in prison when she's sentenced Jan. 9. But C. Bradley Patton, her lawyer, said he expects she will receive probation and possibly a period of home confinement. The probation would last three years, and the felony could eventually be reduced to a misdemeanor, Patton told the Times.

Rowe has reached an out-of-court monetary settlement with the owners, the Times said.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com