Georgia investigators are seeking possible additional victims of a convicted Florida sex offender after DNA connected him to three sexual assault cases involving women who were allegedly lured by Craigslist job postings.
Julius Hunter, 42, is facing charges of rape, aggravated sodomy and kidnapping in Georgia over the alleged 2016 attack of a 19-year-old woman at an apartment complex in Clarkston. A DeKalb County grand jury indicted him on Aug. 11.
Before his arrest in Georgia, Hunter pleaded no contest in an unrelated 2021 Florida sexual battery case involving his former girlfriend. Investigators are now reviewing evidence that could point to a wider pattern of sexual assaults.
Julius Hunter, center, was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, right, in connection with a sexual assault in Clarkston, Georgia, left. (DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office; Joe Raedle/Getty Images; REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
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“Hunter grew up in New Jersey, so it is possible there may be victims there,” Brandi Rogers, an investigator with the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, told News Outlet.
Authorities said Hunter’s DNA also matched evidence from two other sexual assault investigations in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties dating to 2016 and 2017.
He has not been charged in either of those cases. Rogers said investigators have not been able to reestablish contact with the two women involved.
$300 babysitting job
According to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the 19-year-old believed she was accepting a $300 overnight babysitting job when Hunter arranged a ride-share to an apartment near 700 Jolly Avenue on July 27, 2016.
When she arrived, authorities said, there were no children at the apartment. Hunter and another man were there instead.
Julius Hunter was charged in a sexual assault case in Clarkston, Georgia. (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
The woman tried to leave, but Hunter allegedly prevented her from doing so and sexually assaulted her over the course of several hours. He released her the next day, authorities said.
She escaped in a taxi and asked the driver to call 911. After meeting police at a gas station, she was taken to a hospital for a sexual assault examination.
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Rogers told News Outlet that investigators have not determined the identity of the second man who was inside the apartment and are still seeking information about him. He has not been charged.
Florida arrest leads to DNA match
The Clarkston investigation remained unresolved for years after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation developed a male DNA profile from the woman’s sexual assault kit. The profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but initially did not match anyone in the national database.
The case shifted after Hunter’s 2021 Florida conviction. Authorities collected his DNA and added the profile to CODIS, producing matches with evidence from the Clarkston sexual assault kit as well as kits from the DeKalb and Gwinnett County cases.
Hunter was arrested in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 13, two days after the DeKalb County grand jury issued the indictment. He was extradited to Georgia and booked into the DeKalb County Jail on Aug. 20.
Julius Hunter was arrested in Fort Lauderdale. (Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
At the time Georgia authorities obtained the indictment, Hunter was serving an 11-year probation sentence stemming from the Florida conviction.
Don Plummer, a spokesperson for the Georgia Public Defender Council, which is representing Hunter, declined to comment on the case.
Similar Craigslist ads
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said in a Sept. 14 media alert that the Georgia cases shared similarities beyond DNA. Authorities said Hunter used Craigslist ads to solicit women for jobs involving “babysitting, modeling, dancing and massages.”
Rogers said the number of incidents within a relatively short period suggests there could be additional victims.
The Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force, a collaboration of prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates who investigate cold-case sexual assaults, is currently investigating the cases.
Tip line
Rogers is urging anyone who believes Hunter victimized them to contact law enforcement, stressing that coming forward does not require a victim to pursue prosecution.
“We ask anyone who believes they may have been victimized to call our tip line at 404-371-2444,” Rogers said.
“It is important that we hear their stories so we can offer them support whether or not they decide to move forward with prosecution.”
