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August 30, 2005
Man enters guilty plea for rapes
Nearly two decades after he allegedly kidnapped a 17-year-old girl in Catonsville, forced her to don sunglasses and then raped her, a Baltimore man has pleaded guilty to that rape and four others in the Wilkens precinct.
Thaddeus Sylvester Clemons, now 54, entered a guilty plea Aug. 16 in Baltimore County Circuit Court to all major counts in what had become known as the sunglass rapes, said assistant state's attorney Dean Stocksdale, one of the prosecutors.
"The state is going to be seeking substantial incarceration," Stocksdale said.
Stocksdale noted that Judge Dana Levitz has said he will likely impose a life sentence with all but 22 years suspended while Clemons' defense team will ask for 18 years.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28 in Circuit Court.
"There is no plea agreement," Stocksdale said.
On six occasions over three years, beginning in October 1985 with the kidnapping in Catonsville, Clemons had approached a girl or young woman, threatened her with a knife or gun and forced her to wear "wrap-around" sunglasses to conceal his identity, police said.
In five of the six cases, he would then take the victim to an unknown location, rape her, steal any money or property she might be carrying and return her to the kidnapping site or another location, police said.
In each case, Clemons initiated the kidnapping within a few miles of the 700 block of South Woodington Road in Yale Heights, where he was living at the time of his arrest eight months ago.
In 1985, three kidnappings occurred in Catonsville on Frederick Road, police said - in October near Nunnery Lane, in November in the 6600 block of Frederick Road and in December in the 6200 block.
The fourth kidnapping occurred in March 1987 at Dorchester and Barrington roads in Kensington, a small community that overlaps Catonsville and Arbutus near the Baltimore City line, police said.
That was followed by a failed kidnapping attempt in April 1987, in the 4400 block of Alan Drive in Arbutus, police said.
A sixth attempt, in July 1988 in the 900 block of Leeds Avenue in Arbutus, was successful, according to Stocksdale.
In December 2004, county police entered DNA evidence from one of the 1987 cases into a DNA database of convicted Maryland felons.
The evidence matched a DNA sample from Clemons, who had been convicted in 1990 for sexual child abuse, police said.
He was then charged with five cases of rape and one case of attempted kidnapping because of similarities in the crimes, police said.
Clemons was denied bail after his arrest and has been held in the Baltimore County Detention Center for the past eight months, Stocksdale said.
Clemons pleaded guilty to all major counts in all six cases, included five rapes, Stocksdale said.
The victims can be present at the Sept. 28 sentencing and will be allowed to give "victim impact testimony" describing how the crimes affected them, he said.
Posted by Nealus at August 30, 2005 03:46 PM
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