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February 17, 2010

Canton rape suspect linked by DNA to fourth attack

A 19-year-old Baltimore man, charged with raping a Canton woman after shoveling her snow in December as well as two attacks in rural Virginia, has been linked through DNA to a fourth rape that occurred in Canton in 2007.

Donald Vaughan was arrested Dec. 21 and accused of raping and slashing the throat of a Canton woman who had paid him to shovel her front sidewalk. It later emerged that Vaughan had been under juvenile supervision in Kilmarnock, Va., where he was under surveillance as a suspect in two rapes there.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Virginia authorities, who assumed responsibility for Vaughan's supervision under interstate agreements, had not notified Maryland officials that Vaughan was returning or that he was a rape suspect. The 2009 Canton attack occurred during a return to Baltimore for the holidays.

Now city police have charged Vaughan in a fourth attack, which court records say occurred Jan 1, 2007, in the 2700 block of Dillon St. The crime follows a pattern of break-ins and attacks that Vaughan has been accused of since a young age.

Here's a link to what appears to be Vaughan's Myspace page.

Comments


Disgusting. How many women have to be assaulted before "authorities" lock the perpetrator up? Do these crimes at least warrant an ankle monitor?

Again, please continue to name names of the "authorities" mis-handling these cases. Is there no accountability?

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About Peter Hermann
Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.



Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.
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