JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, along with members of the State Attorney’s Office and FDLE, announced the arrest of a man in connection with several sexual assault cases that happened between 1995 and 1998.
Calvin Dumas, 68, was arrested on June 28 on a sexual battery charge, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Through DNA evidence, investigators were able to connect Dumas to rape cases in 1995, 1996 and 1998. Dumas was also previously arrested in 1973 for raping his neighbor, then was released in 1981, JSO said.
WATCH: Raw bodycam video of Dumas’ arrest below
Officials said FDLE knew a single rapist had committed these crimes, but that person was not identified.
“He targeted single mothers. He told them if they made any noise or reported the crime to the police, he would kill them or kill their children,” said State Attorney Melissa Nelson. “Calvin Dumas is a dangerous serial rapist and frankly he’s every woman’s worst nightmare.”
After technological improvements to forensic use of familial DNA, JSO was connected with a male relative of Dumas, not Dumas himself. However, recently, they were able to obtain a DNA sample from Dumas and it was a match.
“The database didn’t start until 1990. So for a lot of these cases, there was nothing that could be done early on when the crime first occurred. And so the new samples could be retested using current technology and do miss because of when he committed his crimes didn’t get put into the CODIS database. And so that’s why there was never a match made that way,” said Marcie Scott, with Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“Just recently when advances in DNA technology allowed for familial DNA testing. We would not be here and Dumas would not be off the streets without the hard work of several people dedicated to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative and the investigation of sex crimes,” said Nelson.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson said Dumas would target single mothers, hold them at knifepoint, and threaten to harm them and their children if they told police.
Officials said they will continue to try and match Dumas’ DNA against other sexual battery cases.
JSO is now asking women who have not previously reported sexual battery that fit Dumas’ criminal pattern or may know anything about any of Dumas’ attacks to speak out.
Contact JSO at 904-630-0500 or JSOcrimetips@jaxsheriff.org.