Oregon v. Rideout
Oregon v. Rideout was a trial held in Marion County Circuit Court in 1978 in Salem, Oregon. John Rideout was accused of raping his wife, Greta Rideout, the first man in the United States to be charged with raping his wife while they were still living together. The trial was the first in Oregon relating to marital rape since the state revised its rape law in 1977 to eliminate the marital rape immunity. Following a jury trial, John Rideout was acquitted. Background In 1977, Oregon passed a law removing marriage or cohabitation as a legal defense to a charge of rape. In 1978, Greta Rideout brought a charge of rape against her husband under the 1977 law. The alleged assault according to Greta Rideout occurred October 10, 1978, at their apartment in North Salem. Having been arguing recently and facing threats of violence from John, she had refused to have sex with him and attempted to leave the house. He then brought her back to the apartment and forced himself on her. When she tried to report this to the police, she was told according to Oregon law she had to wait two days to make a rape charge. He