Dana Anthony Sterling had been out of a Georgia prison for less than five months when he raped and beat a woman who wouldn’t give him a crack pipe. He’d already been arrested 32 times, according to prosecutors.
But it took nearly 13 years for Sterling to be convicted of the crime, due to a backlog of rape kits.
On Friday, the Fulton County District Attorney announced Sterling’s conviction for rape, aggravated sodomy, terroristic threats, kidnapping and aggravated assault.
From 1990 to 2006, Sterling served three stints in prison, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. In December 2006, he was released after serving 17 months for theft, records show.
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Then on May 16, 2007, Sterling approached a woman walking along Jonesboro Road in Atlanta, according to investigators. Sterling, then 41, asked the 31-year-old woman for a crack pipe, but she said no. Sterling then grabbed her from behind, placed her in a choke-hold and dragged her to some nearby bushes, the DA's office said.
Sterling told the woman he would kill her if she didn’t obey him, according to prosecutors. He then raped and beat her, then dragged her to a nearby church, where he again raped her and beat her with a chain. Someone walking in the area saw the naked woman and called police, the DA’s office said.
At Grady Memorial Hospital, the woman was treated for injuries to her jaw, eyes, shoulders and neck. She was unable to speak clearly to help identify her attacker, the DA’s office said. She also underwent a sexual assault examination, which was sent to Atlanta police, according to the DA.
In 2016, Georgia passed a law requiring law enforcement agencies to submit any untested rape kits to the GBI. DNA testing linked Sterling to the 2007 assault, and he was booked into the Fulton jail in March 2018, records show.
According to the DA’s office, Sterling has 32 prior arrests and eight convictions, including in Texas, North Carolina and Florida, between 1982 and 2004.
He is scheduled for sentencing for his latest conviction on March 9.
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