DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man she described as an “alleged serial rapist” apprehended after an investigation by a sexual assault task force.
Wesley Cooley, 58, was arrested at his home near the Rockdale County line on Feb. 24 and faces one charge of rape in a 2017 case, as well as criminal attempt to commit a sexual assault in a separate 2017 case. Boston said additional charges are pending because he has also been linked through investigation to seven other rapes spanning 20 years. Five of the cases are from DeKalb County, two are from the city of Atlanta and one is from Conyers.
“Today is about the victims on whose behalf we advocate,” the DA said. “Today we say: ‘We see you. We will continue to fight for for you.’”
Cooley was identified as a suspect in the 2017 rape through DNA and was then connected to other cases by an investigation of the task force of the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, officials said. The initiative was established in 2018 and relies on the GBI's efforts to test previously backlogged sexual assault kits that caused controversy a few years ago.
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“This is an important project,” said Jay Neal, executive director of the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which is partnered with the task force. “We are going to see it through — continuing to show survivors that Georgia stands with them.”
Boston said Cooley may also be connected to other crimes. She asked that anyone who may have information on him to call the Day League’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 404-377-1428.
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