Decatur Serial Rapist Pleads Guilty To 4 Cold Case Rapes

DECATUR, GA — A Decatur man plead guilty Wednesday to four cold case rapes dating back to 2006, according to the Dekalb County District Attorney’s office.

Dionte Mapp, 39, pled guilty to three counts of kidnapping, three counts of rape, two counts of aggravated sodomy and two counts of aggravated assault on March 11.

On June 28, 2006, Mapp met a 17-year-old girl who agreed to go on a date with him, but the date turned violent, prosecutors said. Mapp drove her to a South DeKalb park, slapped the victim and forced her to perform sexual acts on him before raping and strangling her, prosecutors said. The victim escaped and called the police.

Prosecutors said on Oct. 23, 2013, a 23-year-old woman was walking home in Decatur, along Candler Road near Flat Shoals Road when Mapp approached her and tried to get her phone number. When the woman refused, Mapp grabbed her by her neck, threw her on the ground near a wooded area and raped her before running off, prosecutors said.

On March 21, 2015, a 23-year-old woman was walking along Candler Road near Rainbow Drive to catch a bus to work when Mapp grabbed her from behind, put her in a headlock and jammed a gun in her back.

Mapp threatened to shoot her if she screamed, prosecutors said. He then took the victim into a wooded area where he strangled and raped her. The victim escaped and jumped into a female passerby’s car. She was later hospitalized for her strangulation injuries.

On June 3, less than three months later, a fourth victim was walking in the same area after getting off of the bus from work, according to prosecutors. As she was talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend, she was approached from behind by Mapp who began strangling her. The victim was then forced into a wooded area where she began to scream and fight him off. The woman ran home to her boyfriend who returned to the area, searched for Mapp and then beat him when he found him. Mapp was hospitalized after the beating.

Investigators said they recognized that there were similarities between all four cases and used Mapp’s DNA to determine that he was the suspect in all four attacks.

Mapp was sentenced to life in prison with 35 years in custody and the balance on probation under sex offender status.