Serial Rapist Linked to 13 Attacks Strikes Again

The AP is reporting that a serial rapist responsible for more than a dozen sexual assaults along the East Coast in the last 12 years has been linked to the rapes of two teenage trick-or-treaters on Halloween in Virginia, police said Wednesday.

Manassas, Virginia police  said the suspect’s DNA has been found at 13 crime scenes in four states. In addition to the Halloween assaults, he has attacked four women in Fairfax County, one in Leesburg and seven in Prince George’s County, officers said. Some of the crimes had more than one victim.

Most of the rapes occurred between 1997 and 2001 in the D.C. suburbs. After a five-year hiatus, the man was linked by DNA to a peeping-tom incident in 2006 in Rhode Island and a 2007 rape in Connecticut.

Police said the individual confronted three teenage girls on Halloween night as they were headed home from trick-or-treating. The man, who was wearing a ski mask and armed with a gun, then raped two girls, ages 16 and 17, before fleeing.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=rape+victim&iid=4821696″ src=”a/3/1/4/Denim_Day_in_82bd.jpg?adImageId=8431034&imageId=4821696″ width=”234″ height=”152″ /]The Washington Post reports that…Police officials in Prince William, Fairfax, Leesburg and Prince George’s pleaded Wednesday for the public’s help in identifying the man. Although officials have known his genetic fingerprint for at least seven years, efforts to attach a name have hit dead ends.

The descriptions that victims have provided of their attacker are vague: black male, medium build, in his 30s or 40s. The man was often masked or wore a hoodie, and many of the assaults occurred in the dark. Officers have not released a sketch of the suspect because they haven’t been able to produce one they think is reliable. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121604242.html?hpid=topnews

Fairfax County Police Chief David M. Rohrer told the Post the Halloween attacks were the suspect’s first attacks in nearly three years.

“This violent offender is now back,” Rohrer said. “We are asking the public to think and look at people they know, whether it is a loved one, a friend, a family member.”

Police are saying that the suspect is armed and dangerous, and should be approached with caution.

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=rape+victim&iid=4821688″ src=”9/c/e/7/Denim_Day_in_476a.jpg?adImageId=8431000&imageId=4821688″ width=”234″ height=”359″ /]

Sources…

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/12/17/Suspect-in-Va-rapes-tied-to-other-attacks/UPI-75971261070467/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-dc-suburbs-rapist,0,1768773.story