Book Drop Rape Victim Sues Library

TAMPA — The family of the young woman raped and brutally beaten outside the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library in 2008 is suing the people who designed and built the library.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, says the after-hours book drop outside the library was “inherently dangerous,” created a “latent hazard” and posed an “undue risk” to patrons required to get out of their cars in an area hidden from view to deposit books.

The attack survivor, at the time an 18-year-old East Bay High School senior, pulled up to the book drop the night of April 24, 2008, as she spoke with a friend on the cell phone. The library was closed. The friend heard the young woman say she saw a “weird guy” sitting on a bench, and then heard a door chime.

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