Danielle Tudor was 17 when serial rapist Richard Troy Gillmore broke into her family’s house in Portland in November 1979, assaulted and raped her. Nearly 30 years would unfold before she felt she could tell her story publicly.

On Thursday night, Tudor was the first crime victim to deliver the keynote speech for the annual conference of the Oregon District Attorneys Association, this year held at The Riverhouse Convention Center in Bend.

Tudor has become an advocate for the rights of sexual assault victims and has worked to reform procedures of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision and to incrementally increase the statute of limitations for rape in Oregon.

When Gillmore’s case went to trial in 1987, Tudor learned there were nine known victims. She had been subpoenaed to testify at the trial, although Gillmore could not be charged in her case because the statute of limitations had passed.

He hadn’t been identified or arrested until 1986, after going on to rape six more women. He was sentenced to life in prison with a 30-year minimum, which was subsequently reduced to 15 years.

When Gillmore first became eligible for review by the parole board in 2001, neither his victims nor the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office was notified, Tudor said.

The board determined Gillmore wasn’t eligible for parole during that hearing and reached the same decision at two subsequent hearings. In 2007, though, the board found him eligible for parole, although a psychologist testified he had a high potential to reoffend. He was not released at the time.

After finding out about the decision, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and a victim sued the parole board. In June 2008, the parole board heard the case again, but Tudor couldn’t bring herself to testify when Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Russell Ratto called and asked.

A week after that hearing, she called Ratto, who asked her to tell her story to The Oregonian. She made the front page; other victims began coming forward publicly, and two years later, the parole board denied Gillmore parole.

In 2012, though, the parole board wasn’t going to let her testify, saying she wasn’t technically a victim of the crimes for which Gillmore was convicted.

“It was ironic to me to be fighting for that title of victim when I had lived the last 30 years not wanting to be a victim,” Tudor said. But she pushed to testify at the meeting and has worked to make the definition of victim more inclusive when the parole board considers prisoners’ cases.

Meanwhile, Tudor got involved in the Legislature, advocating for changing the statute of limitations; Oregon no longer has a statute of limitations on rape when there is DNA evidence.

Washington County District Attorney Bob Hermann introduced Tudor on Thursday by recalling how victim’s rights weren’t always commonplace.

“We kind of look back at it and say, how is it possible?” he said. “With Danielle … she kind of bridges those times.”

Michele Long, who coordinated the annual conference, said, “We really wanted a speaker who could speak to the district attorneys from a place of purpose.”

That purpose became clear as the crowd, collectively clinking glassware and chatting as the speech began, became silent as Tudor described the night of her rape.

Gillmore, who came to be known as the jogger rapist, entered her basement, where she was watching a movie. Tudor ran upstairs and thought he’d left the house. But then he chased her up to her parents’ room, began beating her, unplugged the phone she’d used to call 911 from the wall, and raped her.

Tudor described taking her first shower after being assaulted, thinking:

“Maybe it will take away that fear, that terror, that shame, that guilt,” she said. “But it’s not yours to carry. It belongs to the person who committed that crime. But it’s a tough thing to do.”

Tudor went on to express gratitude for Ratto, the deputy district attorney who first contacted her and encouraged her to keep advocating for herself and other victims of sexual assault.

Directly addressing the district attorneys, she said, “You’re working with people down the road who realize the impact and care and compassion you had, and how much you meant, how it helped them get through.

“I hope by showing you what it looks like on the other side, it gives you hope for the people you deal with mostly right after the time of the crime.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com