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Accused serial rapist tied to ninth victim, attacked this year

Police had not previously confirmed a July 2019 attack was linked to a Clayton County serial rapist believed to be Kenneth Bowen.

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A 60-count indictment against alleged Clayton County serial rapist Kenneth Bowen links a ninth victim, assaulted earlier this year, to the string of attacks.

Clayton County Police have not previously attributed attacks earlier this year to the serial rapist, whom police now say is Bowen - a former military member and Clayton County Police recruit - after arresting him in August.

At a preliminary hearing in September, Bowen faced charges related to eight attacks. The Clayton County Superior Court grand jury indictment released on Wednesday now charges him with a ninth, which occurred in Jonesboro in July.

RELATED: An alleged serial rapist is in custody. These are the attacks he's suspected of.

Police said in September they suspected Bowen could be charged in as many as seven more cases.

He is charged with six counts in the July case, including aggravated sodomy, aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault. The attack occurred within the same two-mile radius of Bowen's home where the other eight assaults were committed.

11Alive's La'Tasha Givens reported on the attack at the time. Clayton County Police said a man had broken into one of the units at the Park at Tara Lake Apartments complex on July 29 around 1 a.m. According to a police report, the victim said “she was asleep on the loveseat when she woke and found the suspect over her with his hands over her mouth.” 

RELATED: 'She woke and found the suspect over her': Community on edge after latest sexual assault case

The suspect then reportedly told her “not to make a sound and threatened to pistol whip her and kill everyone if she did” before sexually assaulting her.

The indictment's aggravated battery charge adds detail to the attack, alleging Bowen "did maliciously cause bodily harm to (Victim) by seriously disfiguring said person's body by fracturing her orbital socket."

Bowen, police said, has been matched to the eight other cases via DNA. They obtained his DNA during a traffic stop before his arrest, after a wide-ranging investigation that finally named him as the primary suspect. 

RELATED: Detective describes horrific circumstances of 8 attacks by alleged Clayton County serial rapist

Credit: WXIA

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