Stephanie Lucero
Reporting for CBS 11 Dallas/Ft.Worth

North Texas police detectives say there’s no new information about a serial rapist who has terrorized 19 victims.

One of the women attacked is making sure her attacker knows she’s taking steps to make sure it never happens again.

Kathy Smith knows she’s not a typical rape victim. She’s soft-spoken, but she has a bold message.

“I don’t want to ever let myself be in that position again,” said Smith. “The only one who can really protect me, is me.”

Smith was one of the first victims of a serial rapist who has not yet been caught. “I feel like I came close to dieing that night,” Smith said. “If it’s me or him, it’s going to be him.”

In August, Frisco police started distributing a composite of the man who has robbed, beaten, stabbed and even killed one of his victims.

In November of 2005, Smith said the rapist burst into her apartment in Plano. He terrorized her, ransacked the apartment and held a gun to her head, she said.

“I thought he was about to spread my brains all over my bedroom wall, and I just did what I could to get out of there alive,” Smith said.

Since then, she’s experience nightmares, post traumatic stress and she has been angry at the man who raped her.

But Smith has not been silent. She’s now applying for her license to carry a concealed handgun, and she encourages others do the same.

“If someone were to break into my home again, they wouldn’t find someone pulling the covers up and screaming. They would find a gun pointed at them,” said Smith.

Smith says she knows the serial rapist could strike again. She wants to warn other women not to let their guard down.

“You think locking your doors is going to keep someone like that out? No. If they want in, they’re coming in,” she said.

After the attack, Smith moved to another apartment. She got a dog for protection and had crime prevention officers analyze her home. She warns other women that it’s still not enough.

“Even if you have to put bars on your windows to keep people like that out, do it,” she said.