Guilty Plea Expected in Sexual Offenses

An alleged serial rapist suspected in attacks against women in Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Midtown is expected to enter a guilty plea Thursday, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard's office.

Lavelle McNutt, 53, of Atlanta faces a sentence of life in prison, the district attorney's office said in a news release.

In one of the cases, a female patron of the Lenox Square Macy’s discovered a male watching her disrobe in the women’s dressing room on Feb. 2, 2009.

Another case occurred on March 12, 2009, when a woman was attacked by a man as she left her Buckhead apartment. Later that day, a woman told police she witnessed a man watching her as she parked her car, then walked her dog in Piedmont Park. She returned to find her purse and apartment keycard stolen. The next day, she noticed items had been taken from her apartment.

McNutt is also suspected in the April 2007 rape of a woman held at knife point inside her Sandy Springs home. 

He is charged with rape, aggravated sexual battery (two counts), battery, aggravated assault, burglary (two counts), false imprisonment, criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, entering an automobile (two counts), theft by taking (two counts), stalking, peeping Tom and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. The double indictment is linked to four separate victims in incidents dating back four years.

Plea proceedings are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Courtroom 4E, before presiding Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams, the news release said.

The case is being prosecuted by the DA’s Crimes Against Women and Children Unit.