DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man linked to a string of violent sexual assaults will spend the rest of his life behind bars - all after prosecutors said he was caught by police during one of the attacks.
Jurors found 33-year-old Dominic Lawton of Ocilla, Georgia guilty Friday on all charges of rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, aggravated sodomy and other weapons offenses. It's all in connection with three sexual assaults that happened in 2016 within months of each other.
According to prosecutors, Lawton met the women under the pretext of setting up "dates" with them. Instead, prosecutors said Lawton would force the women to perform sex acts on him - including at gunpoint in two of the three cases.
In the September 2016 case, prosecutors say officers responded to DeKalb Medical after getting a report of a kidnapping and rape. Officers met the 18-year-old victim who told police she arranged to met Lawton at a motel after posting an ad on an adult website. When he arrived, the victim told police he flashed a gun at her and forced her to get in his truck. He then drove them to a different location while forcing her to perform sex acts, prosecutors said. After, he drove her back to the motel before driving off.
Less than a month later on Oct. 9, 2016, detectives were called again to DeKalb Medical for another kidnapping and rape report. Prosecutors said the 21-year-old victim had also arranged to meet Lawton after posting an ad online. After he picked up the woman in downtown Decatur, prosecutors said he told the victim he needed to stop at the ATM before heading to his apartment. Prosecutors said he instead brought the woman to Mason Mill Park and held her at gunpoint while he ordered her to undress and perform sex acts.
In both cases, the victims contacted police right away.
Three days after the October attack, prosecutors said police were on patrol when they spotted Lawton parked in a pickup truck. As officers approached the car, officers said they noticed him scrambling to get dressed before trying to drive away. That's when they said a partially-dressed 17-year-old got out of the truck and ran to officers to say she was being sexually assaulted.
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The teen told police she met Lawton at the mall, and he later called to arrange to take her to the movies on a date. But, in an account similar to the other victims', she said Lawton drove her to the park and ordered her to undress and perform sex acts. In this case, police arrived and interrupted the assault in progress, prosecutors said. Police arrested him at the scene.
After testing Lawton's DNA, investigators said they were able to link him to all three of the attacks, thanks to positive matches to previously untested rape kits. The D.A. said he was connected to yet another June 2016 sexual assault, but the victim in that case had since died. He may also be tied to another cold case in Tift County, prosecutor said.
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Lawton will now spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to serve three consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years.