DAYTON — A Cincinnati-area doctor has been sentenced for false statements and writings related to a 1989 cold case rape.
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Frederick Louis Tanzer, 67, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for making false statements about the rapes to federal agents, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
He pleaded guilty to three counts related to the false-statements crime in September 2025.
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According to a criminal complaint, Tanzer was identified in 2024 as a prime suspect in a 1989 Cincinnati rape.
Investigators said they were able to get Tanzer’s DNA from a coffee cup that he had thrown away and match it to the DNA on the victim’s underwear.
Authorities said Tanzer knew the victim. When he was brought in for questioning, FBI agents said he lied to them.
Agents found items including cable zip ties, restraints, a gag, and a black hat inside Tanzer’s dresser drawer when they searched his home, News Center 7 previously reported.
“Before admitting that he was the man who committed these horrific rapes in 1989, Tanzer lied to the FBI. His DNA confirmed his guilt, and evidence points to Tanzer being a serial rapist,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “Tanzer poses a grave risk to the public and deserves to be in prison not only for his lies but also for the despicable attack he was trying to cover up.”
In Ohio, sex crimes that occurred in the 1980s could only be prosecuted up to six years from the time of the crime. The 1989 rape Tanzer is charged in connection with happened 35 years ago.
Tanzer was a medical doctor who lived and practiced medicine in Ohio, Kansas, and Colorado, according to our news partners at WCPO.
Online records show the State Medical Board of Ohio issued a permanent surrender and revocation of his license to practice medicine and surgery in March 2025.
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