Police: DNA links man to 3 S.W. Phila. rapes

By Stephanie L. Arnold

Police have concluded that three violent sexual attacks in Southwest Philadelphia from July 2004 to May were the work of one man, a serial rapist who approached his victims on the street.

Based on a match of DNA recovered from all three crime scenes and on file, police have issued an arrest warrant for Charles Stanley Onley, 35. The suspect has several addresses: on the 6600 block of Yocum Street, the 2500 block of South Frazier Street, and the 6200 block of Wister Street.

The match was made possible by CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System program.

The department was outfitted with the DNA-matching system in 2004 after it was found to be useful in helping police capture Center City rapist Troy Graves.

Capt. John Darby of the police Special Victims Unit said yesterday that Onley's DNA was already on file because he had been arrested before.

"We're happy we finally know who he is," Darby said. "This took a lot of hard work and cooperation from the crime lab. We want to solve these cases."

Onley was charged with multiple counts of rape and related offenses. The DNA match, police said, implicates him in the following attacks:

July 16, 2004, on the 6900 block of Paschall Avenue. A man approached a 30-year-old woman about 3:30 a.m. and started a conversation with her. He then grabbed her arm, placed a knife to her throat, and forced her to an abandoned house, where he raped her.

Dec. 15, 2004, at 63d Street and Woodland Avenue. A man offered a 35-year-old woman a ride about 5 a.m. Once inside the vehicle, he pulled out a gun, drove to an unknown location nearby, and raped her.

May 19, 2005, at 67th Street and Woodland Avenue. A man approached a 39-year-old woman about 12:01 a.m., asked her for a light, and then grabbed her around the neck, placed a knife to her throat, and forced her into a schoolyard where he raped her.

Darby said that DNA tests are still being conducted and that matches may surface linking Onley to other rapes.

In another case involving CODIS, investigators have linked two other rapes, one in August 2002 and the other in September 2005, both in North Philadelphia, to one man.

Police, however, do not have that man's DNA on file and do not know who he is.

Furthermore, police received somewhat different descriptions from the victims, with one saying that her attacker had a tattoo on his chest that read "Lilo."

Police are asking anyone with information on either case to call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251.