Julius Hunter, 42, has been indicted on charges of rape, aggravated sodomy and kidnapping
Credit: Sherry Boston DeKalb County District Attorney
NEED TO KNOW
- Julius Hunter, 42, has been indicted on charges of rape, aggravated sodomy and kidnapping and extradited from Florida to Georgia in connection with the 2016 rape and kidnapping of a 19-year-old young woman
- Authorities allege Hunter lured the woman through a Craigslist ad for an overnight babysitter job in Clarkston
- According to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, Hunter’s DNA from the Clarkston case matched the DNA of the perpetrator from two other kits collected in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties in 2016 and 2017
More than 10 years after a teenager was held captive and raped after responding to a Craigslist ad seeking an overnight babysitter in Georgia, a 42-year-old man has been indicted on charges of rape, aggravated sodomy and kidnapping and extradited from Florida, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. According to authorities, DNA recovered from a rape kit helped lead authorities to the suspect.
Julius Hunter was arrested in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 13 in coordination with the U.S. Marshall’s Office, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. Hunter was on probation in Florida after being convicted in a 2021 felony sexual battery case, the district attorney’s office said.
On July 27, 2016, a 19-year-old young woman responded to an ad for an overnight babysitting job in Georgia. A man offered her $300 to watch his children overnight and ordered a ride-share car that drove her to an apartment complex in Clarkston.
When she arrived, no children were present. But two men were. according to the district attorney’s office, which said in a news release this week that although the woman tried to leave, one of the men, later identified as Hunter, held her captive, assaulted her and raped her over the course of several hours.
Hunter let her go the next day, and she contacted police, according to the district attorney’s office. The woman was taken to a hospital and underwent a sexual assault examination.
In 2017, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed that male DNA was present in the sexual assault kit, but there was no match in the national Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS, a network of DNA databases used by law enforcement to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes with profiles from convicted offenders, arrestees and other sources.
However, the suspect’s DNA from the Clarkston case did match the DNA of an unidentified perpetrator from two other sexual assault kits collected in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties in 2016 and 2017.
Authorities in Florida collected Hunter’s DNA after his arrest in the 2021 sexual battery case and it was added to CODIS. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was subsequently notified of a CODIS match between Hunter’s DNA and the DNA in the Clarkston rape kit and the two other Georgia kits.
Since his arrest, investigators from the district attorney’s office have been unable to connect with the individuals involved in the additional cases. The district attorney’s office said the fact patterns in those cases are very similar to the case for which Hunter has been indicted: “The perpetrator lured the victims using Craigslist ads soliciting women for jobs such as babysitting, modeling, dancing and massages. Some of the victims met him at the same Jolly Avenue apartment.”
Investigators believe there may be additional victims.
Hunter remains in custody at the DeKalb County Jail. He has not yet been arraigned.
The Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force was established in 2018 in partnership with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council through a multi-million dollar federal grant under the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.
Anyone with information about Hunter and his alleged crimes or who believes they may have been a victim of his is asked to contact the district attorney’s tip line at 404-371-2444.
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