DNA Leads To 2nd Conviction Of Forest Hill Rapist: Prosecutor

BEL AIR, MD — A Harford County jury convicted a man this week in a 2005 sexual assault in Abingdon. The man was serving time for a rape that happened a year later in Bel Air tied to a burglary.

Glenn Joseph Raynor, 49, of Forest Hill, was convicted of first, second and third-degree sex offenses Tuesday in Harford County Circuit Court in connection with the 2005 sexual assault.

He did not know either of his victims, who could not identify him because they had been suffocated and blindfolded, prosecutors said.

At the time of the trial, Raynor was serving a 100-year sentence for a rape in Bel Air that occurred in 2006, according to authorities. Because of the rape conviction, which was issued in 2009, Raynor's DNA was on file.

Deputy State’s Attorney Diane Adkins-Tobin said the rapist's DNA was tested against evidence recovered in the 2005 case through an initiative by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office to review evidence in past cases of sexual assault. He was indicted in February 2018.

"This would not have been possible with the technology that existed in 2005," Adkins-Tobin, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement. "We were fortunate that the DNA evidence was still intact, and we were able to proceed with the prosecution."

Sentencing has not been scheduled. Raynor faces 10 years to life for the new convictions.

"Even though Raynor is currently serving a significant sentence, we always worry about convictions being overturned from changes in the law after many years have passed and cases become impossible to retry. Raynor has previously challenged his conviction and sought a new trial from the 2006 Bel Air rape in a variety of ways over the years," Adkins-Tobin said. "It is important to have a second conviction to make certain that he is never free to sexually assault another woman. It was also important to give a sense of security and bring justice to the victim of the 2005 sexual assault, who has lived for 13 years not knowing who attacked her. We are pleased to give her closure and bring her a sense of justice."

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