Philadelphia Daily News
Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Rapist's 'friend' was reporter

By NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN,
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Philadelphia prison officials are reviewing the visitors policy because they believe a WCAU-TV reporter misrepresented himself to gain access to Center City Rapist Troy Graves.

Graves had repeatedly told prison officials he wouldn't agree to any media interviews, said prison spokesman Bob Eskind. But Graves did briefly speak yesterday when he was hauled from his cell and questioned by Channel 10 reporter Joe Vasquez.

Eskind said the city Detention Center staff identified Vasquez as a "friend" of Graves in the prison log book.

"He did not identify himself as a reporter," Eskind said.

Vasquez last night denied that he misrepresented himself.

"They never asked me," he said. "The bottom line is if they had asked me if I was a journalist I would have been compelled to say so immediately and that would have been the end of it and I would have had to leave. They didn't ask and I didn't volunteer that information."

After Vasquez gained entry to the prison, a prison employee asked Graves if he wanted to meet with a visitor named Joe Vasquez, Eskind said. Graves, sentenced last week to life imprisonment for a rape spree that included the murder of .Shannon Schieber, agreed, but had no idea Vasquez was a reporter, said Eskind.

Vasquez did introduce himself to Graves as a Channel 10 reporter, Eskind said, and Graves consented to a 13-minute interview.

Eskind, once he learned of the interview, confronted Graves.

"He did say he probably shouldn't have spoken with him," said Eskind.

"We try to set up a process where the inmate understands what's going on when a reporter comes in," he said.

"And that's a concern, especially because he told me three times previously that he did not want to speak with reporters.

"I don't see it as a major transgression. I'm thinking we may need to tighten up our policy a bit but we'll have to take a look."