DA: Serial rapist indicted in 2000 cold case investigation
ATLANTA - A Fulton County grand jury has indicted a convicted serial rapist in the case of a 2000 kidnapping and rape of a college student after officials said his DNA matched a newly-tested rape kit.
According to the Fulton County District Attorney, 38-year-old Cleophus Ward was a serial rapist "who preyed on multiple women in the early 2000's." Officials said that in a two month period in 2002, Ward attempted to rape four women and targeted victims after offering them rides.
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The recent indictment involves the sexual assault of a Spelman College student on March 7, 2000. Officials said the victim was walking from campus to a nearby MARTA station when she was approached by Ward driving a dark-colored vehicle.
The victim believed Ward was a friend from Morehouse College and entered the vehicle, that is when the Fulton County DA said Ward refused to let her out, pulled the vehicle into a cul-de-sac, and raped her.
The next day, the victim went to Grady Hospital and underwent a sexual assault kit. That kit was not received by the GBI until over 15 years later, on Nov. 10, 2015.
In June of 2018, officials say a Combined DNA Index System matched the kit to Ward, who in that time had pleaded guilty to three rapes and multiple charges of aggravated sodomy, assault, and kidnapping. He had been released from prison in 2017 after serving his sentence, but police said he was arrested in Fulton County on separate charges that year and is currently in state custody.
The Fulton County District Attorney said Ward's indictment came after a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Justice to fund a cold case rape kit unit to help investigate and prosecute defendants identified through DNA found in rape kits. The GBI has identified over 150 rape suspects from kits stored at Grady Memorial Hospital.
“The survivor in this case is an extraordinarily strong woman who believed that justice would never come. However, this indictment is an incredible relief to her and her family as the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office continues to seek justice on her behalf,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Julianna Peterson said in a statement.
Ward was supposed to be released from prison in about two years. That was why District Attorney Paul Howard said they decided to move forward with his case as quickly as possible.
"He was scheduled to be released from prison during the year of 2021. So, we believe that that means that he would have been out in the community preying on other women and that's why we believe that this grant is so important," explained Howard.
Ward's indictment, which happened on Aug. 20, will be handled by the Fulton County District Attorney's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit.