The accused serial rapist is at the Harris County jail on a $250,000 bond. But the sheriff says this investigation is far from over. He believes there may be other victims who have yet to come forward.
Charles Eric Davenport, 25, is accused of raping seven women in the Cypress Station area of northwest Harris County. Sheriff Adrian Garcia said, "You helped us pursue this individual to the point that we were able to slap handcuffs on him."
Investigators found Davenport using tips from the public. A billboard featuring police sketches from victims' descriptions has been up on Highway 59 for a month. Now it reads "captured" and nearby residents are relieved.
Neighbor Chante Lewis said, "Even though it didn't happen to me, I feel for the women that it did happen to."
Investigators say Davenport raped at least seven women from September 2011 to February of this year, targeting young, Hispanic female escorts.
"Then lure them into vacant apartments where they were assaulted, then sexually assaulted," Sheriff Garcia said.
In at least one of those cases, a woman allegedly helped set up the meeting. She is still on the run.
"Very surprised that a woman was helping him. What would she have to gain? We are very interested in trying to find out who that woman is," said Lt. Ruben Diaz with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. "Obviously the suspect is not cooperating with that."
He says Davenport was finally caught when a teenage girl called in last week, saying the suspect looked familiar. Deputies first tracked down Davenport's father. After a DNA check, they were able to match the son's DNA with DNA found on all seven women.
"We did a familial DNA test, come to find out it was exact. It was 99.9 percent possibility that our victims were connected to the familial DNA of the suspect," Lt. Diaz said.
Davenport was arrested at his cousin's home just a few miles away from the area where the attacks occurred.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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