A Snellville woman was awakened by her dog around 3 a.m. on April 8. The dog wouldn’t stop barking at the bedroom door. When the woman opened the door, a masked man tackled her to the ground, Gwinnett County Detective Kirsten Luc said.
“I’ve been watching you,” the intruder said to the woman. “Where’s your son? Why are you here alone?”
The intruder raped the woman, kissing her breast during the attack and leaving saliva behind. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation analyzed the saliva and connected it to Christopher Freeman’s DNA.
Luc detailed the alleged assault Wednesday during a preliminary hearing in Gwinnett County to establish probable cause for the case to move forward.
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Freeman, who lived down the street from the victim, has been charged with rape, battery and burglary in connection with the assault.
He was dressed in dark clothes and a mask during the assault, Luc said. While assaulting the woman, he told her, “I gave you my number, but you never called,” according to Luc. The victim, who had recently opened an online dating profile, told the detective she had not given anyone her phone number recently.
After the assault, Freeman forced the victim to wash herself in a bath, but dragged her out of the tub and down the stairs after seeing a security camera. The camera had not been set up, but Freeman ripped multiple cords out of a downstairs office wall in fear that the attack had been captured on tape, Luc said.
Freeman forcibly dragged the victim back up the stairs and attempted to rape her again, Luc said. After hearing a crash downstairs, the victim shouted, “I’m up here,” and Freeman fled the home, Luc said. The noise had not been caused by a person, but by a banister falling off the staircase after Freeman had knocked it loose dragging the victim up the stairs, Luc said.
The victim called police about 10 minutes after the assault. Investigators found that Freeman had kicked in a basement door to enter the home and smoked a cigarette before going up to the victim’s bedroom.
Investigators submitted multiple potential DNA samples from the intruder shortly after the attack. On June 25, a hit on Freeman’s DNA came back from the FBI database, Luc said.
Freeman was arrested on July 2. He is being held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.
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