A Gwinnett County jury has convicted a man of rape and robbery after he preyed on escorts who advertised their services on Backpage.com, the district attorney’s office announced Monday.
Joseph Sivonda was found guilty of rape and aggravated sodomy and armed robbery in a trial last week, said Dan Mayfield, chief assistant district attorney, in an email.
Superior Court Judge Randy Rich sentenced Sivonda to serve three consecutive life sentences.
Sivonda had solicited two women who advertised their escort services on consecutive nights in April 2013. “Each victim told the jury that when they arrived at the Bradford Gwinnett Apartments in Norcross, the defendant produced a handgun and then sexually assaulted and robbed them,” Mayfield said.
The police investigation, which relied on the phone number Sivonda used to contact the women, led to a third victim “who had been too frightened to come forward,” Mayfield said.
DNA and fingerprint evidence and the women’s identification of Sivonda sealed his fate, Mayfield said.
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