Woman says she was attacked by Anthony Sowell in 1988

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - A 46-year-old South Carolina woman walked into the East Cleveland Police Department on Thursday afternoon and filed a report about a rape that she says happened 24 years ago. 

"She saw his picture and immediately recognized that was the person who raped her back then," said East Cleveland Oolice Chief  Ralph Spotts. 

The victim, who is a native of Cleveland, stold police that the man who raped her was 51-year-old Anthony Sowell. Sowell is accused of raping and murdering 11 women, whose bodies were found in and around his home on Imperial Avenue in East Cleveland in 2009.

The woman told police she had been addicted to drugs and was sitting on the wall at Burnette Apartments, on Euclid Avenue. The woman said she drank beer for a couple of hours, and then they walked down the street. She stopped at Euclid and Noble and went behind a restaurant located there to urinate. That's when she told police, Sowell came behind the building and raped and choked her.

Spotts, who was just a rookie cop back in 1988, said that area of the city was known for trouble. 

"It fits that area, everything she desribes, even the place where they met orginally, we have no reason to believe that she is making this up, " Spotts said.

Sowell's attorney said he did not have a comment about these latest allegations. Police said their investigation is continuing and charges could be filed.