2 More Life Terms for East Coast Rapes

A New Haven man has received two more life sentences for the 2001 kidnapping and rape of a Leesburg woman that was one of many rapes linked to a man identified by authorities as the "East Coast Rapist."

The life terms imposed on Friday by a Virginia judge come on top of three life terms imposed March 1 for an attack on three teenagers in 2009 in Prince William County.

Police say Aaron Thomas of New Haven, Connecticut, was responsible for 17 rapes and sex crimes spanning from 1997 to 2009 in Virginia; Maryland; New Haven, Connecticut; and Rhode Island. He was arrested in 2011 after a multi-state law enforcement effort.

After Friday's hearing, the victim in the Leesburg case said Thomas appeared to be sorry for himself more than for his crimes.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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