NORFOLK, Va. — Next week, a grand jury in Norfolk will hear the case against an accused rapist.
William Phelps IV faces eight charges, including rape, forcible sodomy, and abduction. Two sexual battery charges were dismissed this week.
Police arrested Phelps last October for crimes they say he committed in 2008.
The accusations involve at least five victims in Norfolk and Chesapeake.
Prosecutors said they were able to connect Phelps to the sexual assaults after he submitted a permit to buy a gun last year. His fingerprints used to buy the gun were matched with those from a case on January 9, 2008, where two teenage girls were raped behind a garage in Norfolk at gunpoint.
Police then got DNA from Phelps, which they say linked him to two more rapes in Norfolk and Chesapeake.