Two men were charged in separate Baltimore County rapes from the 1980s - one in North Point, the other in Essex - after their DNA was matched to evidence in the cases, police said yesterday.
The arrests of William Joseph Pressley, 37, and Manly Moses Terry, 50, were part of a larger effort to identify suspects in cases that yielded genetic evidence but occurred before sophisticated DNA testing was available, said Officer Shawn Vinson, a county police spokesman.
Vinson said police expect more developments in old cases as a corporal in the department's sex crimes unit examines evidence. In some cases, samples may have been tested but the DNA processes were not advanced enough to produce results, he said.
Pressley, who according to police is in prison on unrelated charges, was charged with first-degree rape after his genetic profile was linked to a sexual assault that occurred in North Point on May 25, 1985, police said.
The victim told police that a man approached her as she walked in the 2700 block of North Point Blvd., grabbed her and raped her before running away, police said.
Terry's DNA was linked to a sexual assault and robbery that occurred in Essex on June 15, 1988, police said. A woman told investigators that a man approached her as she was walking down Eastern Boulevard near Doolittle Road, forced her to the ground and demanded her purse and money. She said she tried to fight the man, but he sexually assaulted her and then ran from the area.
Terry was charged with first-degree rape, attempted first-degree sexual offense and robbery, police said. He was also already in prison in an unrelated case, police said.
Both cases had remained open, but detectives had exhausted all leads, Vinson said.
The genetic profile of each man was linked to the cases after evidence was submitted to Maryland's DNA data bank, which was created through a 1994 state law and expanded three years ago to include samples from all felons and some people convicted of misdemeanors.
The arrests of Pressley and Terry follow the June arrest of Darrell Gene Haynes, 45, of the 2100 block of Oakland Road. Haynes, a registered sex offender, was charged in a 1987 Dundalk rape after his DNA was linked to evidence in the case, police said. Less than two weeks later, he was found dead in his Middle River home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
