East Coast Rapist Pleads Guilty: Reports

The man dubbed the East Coast Rapist – already facing life sentences for rapes in two Virginia counties -- pleaded guilty Monday to three first-degree rape charges in Prince George’s County.

Aaron Thomas, 43, of Connecticut is a suspect in rapes from Rhode Island to Virginia over a 20-year span, authorities say. He was indicted in March 2013 on a total of 54 charges in Prince George’s County, including first-degree sex offense, theft, kidnapping and false imprisonment. He is accused of raping and kidnapping six women in the county between February 1997 and August 2001, NBC Washington reports.

Authorities believe he is connected to 17 rapes; 12 of which Thomas has been tied to based on DNA evidence.

Thomas was sentenced in March 2013 to three life terms in prison for raping two Prince William County, VA, teenagers and abducting another, as they were trick-or-treating on Halloween night 2009.

Defense attorney for Thomas argued in the Virginia cases that he suffered from a number of mental disorders and had been abused as a child, so that should pose a mitigating factor.

An expert witness for the defense, who evaluated Thomas, testified that though Thomas clearly had a range of issues, he was legally competent.

The three Virginia girls were attacked as they were walking home from trick-or-treating. They were cutting across a shopping center parking lot when Thomas pulled out a lighter that looked like a gun and asked if they had money, according to court documents.

When the girls said they did not, Thomas ordered them to a wooded area behind the store, and told them to drop their bags full of candy. He then took them to a clearing down a hill, where he told them to lie face down on the ground. He sexually assaulted the two 17-year-old victims, but the 16-year-old was able to text her mother from the scene.

»Patch file photo of Aaron Thomas