(CLEVELAND)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced today that a suspected serial rapist has been indicted on charges linking him to the sexual assaults of seven women over a period of ten years.
Jonas Rhodes, 58, of Cleveland, is charged with 18 counts of rape and 12 counts of kidnapping in connection with the seven sexual assaults that occurred in the Cleveland area between 1993 and 2003.
The investigation began after forensic scientists with the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) discovered identical DNA on seven rape kits submitted for testing by the Cleveland Police Department as part of Attorney General DeWine's Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative. Because the DNA profiles did not initially link to a known DNA standard in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), BCI agents working as part of Prosecutor McGinty's Sexual Assault Kit Task Force conducted additional investigation to identify Rhodes as the suspect.
Rhodes allegedly targeted women who were walking in Cleveland neighborhoods and, in several cases, he allegedly brandished either a gun or knife during the attacks.
"Our investigation shows that this defendant is a predator who allegedly attacked women over and over again whenever he saw an opportunity," said Attorney General DeWine. "With his arrest, we are working toward making sure that this alleged serial rapist will never have the chance to hurt anyone again," said Attorney General DeWine.
“Attorney General DeWine’s insistence that all the rape kits should be tested by BCI and then investigated has identified hundreds of serial rapists," said Prosecutor McGinty. "This is just another in a long series of indictments and arrests of habitual, dangerous offenders. Our Sexual Assault Kit Task Force has used DNA hits from BCI to solve more than 500 rapes. This defendant’s one-man rape spree is over. Mr. Rhodes will not be raping any more women.”
Before Rhodes was identified as the source of the DNA, Prosecutor McGinty indicted the DNA profile associated with the earliest cases, known at the time as "John Doe II." Those indictments ensured that the suspect, when identified, could be charged with the cases that had passed the statute of limitations.
Attorney General DeWine launched the SAK Testing Initiative in 2011 after learning that many law enforcement agencies across the state were in possession of rape kits, some of which were decades old, that had never been sent to a DNA lab for testing. Attorney General DeWine then made an open call to law enforcement to send their kits to BCI for DNA testing at no cost to them.
As of June 1, 2016, 11,000 of the 13,808 rape kits submitted for testing as part of the initiative have been analyzed. The testing has led to 3,968 hits in CODIS, linking crimes to offenders, identifying serial rapists, and giving law enforcement agencies critical evidence to help solve brutal attacks. In Cuyahoga County alone, hundreds of defendants have been indicted following DNA testing and follow-up investigations conducted as part of the effort.
Attorney General DeWine will join Prosecutor McGinty tomorrow to announce a separate case that is the 500th defendant indicted through the work of the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force.
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierny: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840
Cuyahoga County - Joe Frolik: 216-443-7488