'Roaming Rapist' Of Sacramento County Found Guilty On All 28 Counts
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A man suspected of being the infamous "Roaming Rapist" was found guilty on dozens of counts Wednesday afternoon.
Dereck Sanders was charged on 28 counts of assault and was found guilty on all of them.
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Sanders was arrested back in 2012 at his home in Isleton. He was linked to a series of rapes in Sacramento County that spanned from 1998 to 2003.
The victims ranged in age from 14-42.
Sacramento County investigators say between 1998 and 2003, Sanders victimized 10 women all over the county, including a 14-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend. In some cases they say he beat the victims or threatened them with a gun.
Sanders was under surveillance by sheriff's detectives in 2012 when he was observed going through a McDonald's drive-thru for lunch and then discarded his bag. Detectives picked it up, had it tested and got a DNA match on a straw Sanders used, according to the arrest affidavit.
At the time of the rapes, the "Roaming Rapist" was described as approaching his victims on foot, on bike and in several different vehicles, including a van that one victim mistook for a taxi. Law enforcement had several sketches from different witnesses but never made an arrest until now.
He was known to strike up conversations with some of his victims before attacking them. He was armed with a handgun in many of the attacks, according to the criminal complaint.
