Vince Champ

Last updated
Vince Champ
Born
Vinson Horace Champ

(1961-09-12) September 12, 1961 (age 63)
Stockton, California, U.S.
OccupationComedian
Years active1985–1997
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Criminal penalty30 to 40 years imprisonment
Details
Victims8 (5 raped, 3 attempted)
Span of crimes
September 6, 1996 –May 6, 1997
CountryUnited States
State(s) California, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin
Date apprehended
May 7, 1997
Imprisoned at Nebraska State Penitentiary

Vinson Horace Champ [1] (born September 12, 1961) is an American former comedian and convicted rapist. Champ was a touring comedian who had gained minor renown for winning first place in the comedy category of the 1992 edition of Star Search . In 1997, he was identified as a serial rapist when his DNA and tour schedule were matched up with a series of rapes on college campuses. [2] [3]

Contents

He is currently serving a 30-to-40-year sentence at Nebraska State Penitentiary. His projected release date is in 2033, [4] after which he will begin two consecutive life-term sentences in Iowa. [5]

Early life

Champ was born in Stockton, California, as one of seven children to airman John Champ and Thelma Slade. When Champ was three years old, his older brother Victor died aged ten during an accident at Langley Air Force Base. He graduated Edison High School, where Champ placed fourth in both categories of a nationwide Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation contest hosted by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association in his senior year. Champ said that he was inspired by his speech coach, SUSD teacher Donovan Cummings. [6] Cummings would later be charged for indecent exposure and solicitation of an undercover sheriff's deputy for a lewd and lascivious act in separate incidents in April and July 1997. [7] [8]

Career

After graduating Sacramento State College, Champ started his comic career at age 24, working alongside other fledgling comedy figures such as Marc Maron and Jason Stuart. [9] He moved to Los Angeles and was employed by Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises as on-board entertainment. Champ also regularly performed at Punch Line comedy club in Sacramento and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and acted in local theatre plays. [6]

Beginning in 1990, Champ made guest appearances in comedy television, including Rosie O'Donnell's Stand-Up Spotlight , the Late Show with David Letterman , An Evening at the Improv, The Byron Allen Show, and a recurring role as a panelist in the 1990 ABC run of Match Game . [6] Champ won $100,000 while competing on Star Search in 1992. After that, Champ mostly performed on the college circuit. He was known as a nice, respectful comedian who only did "clean" material, [3] [10] which made him a favorite for college bookers. [11] A review of the New York Post described Champ as "a breath of fresh air... quick on his feet... a very likeable act. Everyone feels good in the end." [6]

Crimes

According to court documents, Champ's criminal record includes physically attacking his 17-year-old former girlfriend in 1996; Champ was around 35 years old at the time. [12] His only other involvement with the judicial system were hearings between June 1994 and June 1995 as a plaintiff, after Champ filed an automobile tort case at Van Nuys Court House in Los Angeles County. [13]

Champ followed a consistent pattern in his assaults. He wore a ski mask and gloves while he sought out his victims inside college buildings. [14] Each time, he covered the women's heads so they could not identify him, he talked to them during the assault, and he asked each of the women to pray for him afterward. [15] Two of the victims said that Champ specifically asked them if they were virgins and at least one woman described her assailant as Caucasian based on Champ's voice due to his "cultured" accent and "intelligent manner" of speaking. [16]

Rapes and attempted rapes linked to Champ

Arrest and investigation

On May 6, 1997, Champ was spotted fleeing the scene of an attempted rape at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. He was arrested on May 7, 1997, at his apartment in Hollywood, California. [26] The court released him on bail and he left for a trip to the Caribbean. When he returned on May 13, 1997, he was arrested at Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, after detectives in Omaha, Nebraska, connected him to a similar rape at the University of Nebraska. [3] [12] At the time of his arrest, one of Champ's booking agents commented that Champ's schedule resembled "a road map of where these rapes occurred". [27]

Sentencing

Immediately after his arrest, Champ was extradited to Nebraska for his trial, [28] which began in February 1998. Champ was charged in three separate cases and pled no contest to first-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual abuse, and assault under the Code of Iowa. The trial fully concluded in 2002, when he was found guilty of two of the rapes and the attempted rape in Pasadena. Champ has appealed his convictions no less than three times between 2000 and 2003, citing improper admission of evidence, the statistically low but acknowledged probability (1 in 57 billion) that the DNA sample could belong to a different person, insufficient physical evidence and excessive sentencing. No merit was found in the accusations and the convictions were affirmed. [16] [29]

In prison, Champ taught public speaking and communication workshops for the Toastmasters organization, as late as November 2018. [30]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Otting, Kelli (1998-02-18). "Comedian pleads no contest to rape charge". The Daily Iowan. p. 1.
  2. ↑ Marc Maron (January 12, 2015). "Episode 567 – Jeff Garlin" (Podcast).
  3. 1 2 3 "Alleged Rapist A 'Nice Guy'. Comic's Arrest Chills Friends". Chicago Tribune . May 19, 1997. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  4. ↑ "Vinson Champ". Nebraska State Penitentiary. 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  5. ↑ Reist, Margaret (May 21, 2011). "Lincoln Journal Star, "Epilogue: No longer a victim, woman learns from attack, is stronger for it"". journalstar.com. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Wallinger, Bobbie (April 18, 1995). "Stocktonians Champ of a small, small world". The Stockton Record. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  7. ↑ Durand, Michelle; Adamek, Tamma (July 31, 1997). "Popular speech coach arrested". The Stockton Record.
  8. ↑ Durand, Michelle (September 17, 1997). "Speech coach's solicitation case deferred". The Stockton Record.
  9. ↑ Horgan, Richard (2013-04-08). "Early Champion of Stand-Up Jason Stuart Was Convicted Rapist Vince Champ". Ad Week.
  10. ↑ Doyle, Sady (2013-05-04). "Not So Funny: Sam Morril's Rape Jokes and Female Comedy Fans". Global Comment. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  11. ↑ "Patton Oswalt: A Closed Letter to Myself About Thievery, Heckling and Rape Jokes". www.pattonoswalt.com. 2013-06-14. Archived from the original on 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  12. 1 2 3 Patrick Rogers (May 26, 1997). "No Laughing Matter. Looking for the Link in a Series of Campus Rapes, Police Arrest a Traveling Stand-Up Comic". People magazine . Archived from the original on 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  13. ↑ Vinson Champ Vs. George A Shinn, Does 1-20 Incl (June 29, 1994)
  14. ↑ "Warrant Issued for Rape Suspect Held in Nebraska". Los Angeles Times. 1997-06-11. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  15. ↑ "Comedian found guilty of raping woman at Union College". Daily Nebraskan . April 12, 2000. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  16. 1 2 "State of Nebraska, appellee, v. Vinson Champ, appellant" (PDF). District Court for Lancaster County. March 20, 2001.
  17. 1 2 "Rapes authorities have linked to Vinson Champ". JournalStar.com. 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  18. ↑ Jordan, Erin (2002-11-16). "Cedar Rapids Gazette Archives, Nov 16, 2002, p. 1". NewspaperArchive.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  19. 1 2 O'Hanlon, Kevin (2000-06-06). "Ex-'Star Search' Comedian Sentenced". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  20. ↑ "Convicted rapist Vinson Champ again sentenced on rape charge". Dispatch Argus. 2000-07-05.
  21. 1 2 3 McGlynn, Ann (14 May 2002). "Rape victim describes horror". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  22. 1 2 "Suspect Arrested in Series of College Rapes". Los Angeles Times. 1997-05-14. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  23. ↑ "Serial campus rapist, suspected at Carthage, convicted in Nebraska". Journal Times/AP. 2000-07-04. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  24. ↑ "State v. Champ". Justia Law. 2001-07-31. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  25. ↑ Rabe, Gary A.; Champion, Dean J. (2002). Criminal Courts: Structure, Process, and Issues. Prentice Hall. p. 194. ISBN   978-0137803880.
  26. ↑ "College Circuit Comedian Suspected in Campus Rapes". Los Angeles Times. 1997-05-13. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  27. ↑ Smith, Wes (1997-05-19). "Alleged Rapist A 'Nice Guy'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  28. ↑ Capace, Nancy (1999). Encyclopedia of Nebraska. Somerset Publishers. p. 89. ISBN   978-0403098347.
  29. ↑ "State v. Champ". Casetext. October 15, 2003.
  30. ↑ "NSP holds annual Toastmasters Banquet". Nebraska Department of Corrections Services. November 14, 2018.
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