Va. Inmate Faces Rape, Assault Charges in Md.

A Virginia prison inmate was transported this week to Montgomery County, where he has been charged with rape and assault after detectives linked him to two crimes that occurred in 1993 and 1997, police said yesterday.

Serrell Singleton, 42, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes he committed in Virginia, was tied to a Montgomery rape and assault through DNA samples collected after the crimes, investigators said.

The 1993 case involved a 34-year-old Olney woman who was attacked on Old Baltimore Road in Olney while walking home at 7 p.m. on Dec. 23, police said.

Nearly four years later, on Sept. 18, 1997, police said, Singleton assaulted a 54-year-old woman who was cleaning a laundry room in the 11000 block of Columbia Pike in Silver Spring. The woman fought back and was kicked and beaten but not raped, police said.

Virginia court records indicate Singleton pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy for a 1997 offense.

Police linked Singleton to the 1997 Montgomery case in 1998 and identified him as a suspect in the 1993 case in 2004, police said.

Singleton was only recently brought to Maryland to face the new charges because detectives had to consult with the two victims and coordinate his transfer with law enforcement officials in Virginia, police said.

If Singleton is convicted in Maryland, he will probably return to Virginia to serve the rest of his sentence, police said. He would then be brought to Maryland to serve any new sentence.

"Anytime that we can help bring someone to justice we're hoping that it will bring closure for the victim," said Officer Sonia Pruitt, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman.

Staff writer Jamie Stockwell contributed to this report.