Willie James Bradley, 55, a registered sex offender who was on probation at the time.
A woman was on her way home in Chattanooga, Tenn., this month when a man grabbed her arm and forced her into a vacant home.
Police said the man raped her for several hours, threatening to kill her if she tried to escape.
Willie James Bradley, 55, a registered sex offender who was on probation at the time, was arrested and charged with aggravated rape and other charges. He had been released from jail after being accused of similar crimes several times, all in Chattanooga.
Bradley was first charged with aggravated rape in 1999, when he pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge and was sent to prison for six years, online court records show.
Over the next 17 years, Bradley would follow the same pattern in at least four other cases: He would be charged with rape - and, in every case, he would plead guilty to lesser assault charges in exchange for lighter sentences, according to court records.
At one point, according to documents, Bradley beat a woman repeatedly and left a bloodied crime scene.
Another sexual assault, according to an affidavit of complaint, happened in September 2008.
A woman told Chattanooga police that she was on her way to a friend's house when Bradley approached her and began talking. He then grabbed her neck and forced her into a vacant duplex. During the three-hour ordeal, according to the affidavit, Bradley hit the woman several times in the face.
Bradley pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge and received a four-year sentence, court records show.
In June 2014, another woman came to police with a crime characterized by some of the same details.
She told officers that she and a friend were driving around looking for crack cocaine when they met up with Bradley, who told them he could find them more drugs, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
When the woman said she had to use the bathroom, Bradley, whom she knew only as "Doc," told her he had a sister who lived nearby, the paper reported. He then walked the woman to a vacant house.
Once inside, he grabbed her hair and forced her to perform oral sex. The woman was punched several times in the face and head. When a police officer went to inspect the crime scene, he saw blood "all over the floor and walls," according to an affidavit.
"It was awful - blood spray everywhere; it was terrible," Officer Andrew Peker said during a hearing, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
The woman identified Bradley in a photo lineup. He said he had been alone with the victim but denied raping her, the paper reported.
Court records show that Bradley, again, faced similar charges and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2015.
He received a total of five years in jail for his 2014 and 2015 crimes. He was released less than halfway through the sentence and was placed on probation.
On Aug. 3, police say, Bradley raped another woman while wearing his ankle monitor. The alleged crime occurred in a vacant home in Chattanooga.
A woman told police she was walking home that night when she was forced into the home. She said that she was forced to perform oral sex and that the ordeal lasted until morning, according to an affidavit.
A probation officer confirmed that Bradley was in the area of the vacant house at the time of the rape, according to an affidavit.
Under Tennessee law, aggravated rape is a Class A felony carrying a penalty of 15 to 60 years in prison. Aggravated kidnapping is a Class B felony punishable by eight to 30 years in prison.
It remains unclear why or how prosecutors agreed to plea agreements that allowed Bradley, who also was once accused of attempted murder, to receive far shorter sentences.
Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Jason Demastus told The Post that in the last two cases before the Aug. 3 incident, the charges were changed "based on review of the available evidence at that time, including forensics and testimonial information from victims."
"Ultimately, these cases involve very delicate victims and very delicate evidence and have to be treated very carefully," said Demastus, who prosecutes sex crimes for the district attorney's office. "In these particular instances, though, after reviewing all the evidence available, the cases were amended to reflect what the state could prove beyond a reasonable doubt."
Bradley is being held on a $1.1 million bond.
Records show his criminal history began years before.
In 1995, he was charged with attempting to commit first-degree murder. Bradley pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and received a two-year prison sentence, court records show.
Between 2004 and 2007, he was charged with aggravated burglary, theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics said in 2003 that 5 percent of sex offenders are rearrested for another sex crime within three years of their release from prison. For instance, of the nearly 4,300 child molesters released in 1994, about 3 percent were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within three years.
Sex offenders are, however, less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any other crime, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said.
© 2016 The Washington Post
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police said the man raped her for several hours, threatening to kill her if she tried to escape.
Willie James Bradley, 55, a registered sex offender who was on probation at the time, was arrested and charged with aggravated rape and other charges. He had been released from jail after being accused of similar crimes several times, all in Chattanooga.
Bradley was first charged with aggravated rape in 1999, when he pleaded guilty to a sexual battery charge and was sent to prison for six years, online court records show.
Over the next 17 years, Bradley would follow the same pattern in at least four other cases: He would be charged with rape - and, in every case, he would plead guilty to lesser assault charges in exchange for lighter sentences, according to court records.
At one point, according to documents, Bradley beat a woman repeatedly and left a bloodied crime scene.
Another sexual assault, according to an affidavit of complaint, happened in September 2008.
A woman told Chattanooga police that she was on her way to a friend's house when Bradley approached her and began talking. He then grabbed her neck and forced her into a vacant duplex. During the three-hour ordeal, according to the affidavit, Bradley hit the woman several times in the face.
Bradley pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge and received a four-year sentence, court records show.
In June 2014, another woman came to police with a crime characterized by some of the same details.
She told officers that she and a friend were driving around looking for crack cocaine when they met up with Bradley, who told them he could find them more drugs, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
When the woman said she had to use the bathroom, Bradley, whom she knew only as "Doc," told her he had a sister who lived nearby, the paper reported. He then walked the woman to a vacant house.
Once inside, he grabbed her hair and forced her to perform oral sex. The woman was punched several times in the face and head. When a police officer went to inspect the crime scene, he saw blood "all over the floor and walls," according to an affidavit.
"It was awful - blood spray everywhere; it was terrible," Officer Andrew Peker said during a hearing, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
The woman identified Bradley in a photo lineup. He said he had been alone with the victim but denied raping her, the paper reported.
Court records show that Bradley, again, faced similar charges and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2015.
He received a total of five years in jail for his 2014 and 2015 crimes. He was released less than halfway through the sentence and was placed on probation.
On Aug. 3, police say, Bradley raped another woman while wearing his ankle monitor. The alleged crime occurred in a vacant home in Chattanooga.
A woman told police she was walking home that night when she was forced into the home. She said that she was forced to perform oral sex and that the ordeal lasted until morning, according to an affidavit.
A probation officer confirmed that Bradley was in the area of the vacant house at the time of the rape, according to an affidavit.
Under Tennessee law, aggravated rape is a Class A felony carrying a penalty of 15 to 60 years in prison. Aggravated kidnapping is a Class B felony punishable by eight to 30 years in prison.
It remains unclear why or how prosecutors agreed to plea agreements that allowed Bradley, who also was once accused of attempted murder, to receive far shorter sentences.
Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Jason Demastus told The Post that in the last two cases before the Aug. 3 incident, the charges were changed "based on review of the available evidence at that time, including forensics and testimonial information from victims."
"Ultimately, these cases involve very delicate victims and very delicate evidence and have to be treated very carefully," said Demastus, who prosecutes sex crimes for the district attorney's office. "In these particular instances, though, after reviewing all the evidence available, the cases were amended to reflect what the state could prove beyond a reasonable doubt."
Bradley is being held on a $1.1 million bond.
Records show his criminal history began years before.
In 1995, he was charged with attempting to commit first-degree murder. Bradley pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and received a two-year prison sentence, court records show.
Between 2004 and 2007, he was charged with aggravated burglary, theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics said in 2003 that 5 percent of sex offenders are rearrested for another sex crime within three years of their release from prison. For instance, of the nearly 4,300 child molesters released in 1994, about 3 percent were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within three years.
Sex offenders are, however, less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any other crime, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said.
© 2016 The Washington Post
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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