OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - An Omaha man made a last-minute deal with prosecutors and was convicted of two rapes and other crimes after pleading no contest.
Jury selection was to begin Monday for the trial of Anthony Vaughn, 42, who originally was charged with seven counts of forcible sexual assault that occurred from 1999 through 2009. Five women were prepared to testify against Vaughn, and prosecutors said the DNA evidence against him was overwhelming.
Vaughn also pleaded no contest to attempted sexual assault and one weapons charge. Prosecutors dropped the other charges in exchange for his pleas. He’ll face up to 140 years in prison when he’s sentenced in July.
A DNA sample taken in 2011 after a burglary conviction linked Vaughn to the assaults. He’d been on probation since September 2011 after pleading guilty to burglarizing the home of his son’s Bible study teacher. Vaughn pleaded with the judge in that case for probation, so he could continue to be a “good member of society.”
He was arrested in the rapes case last April.
In February 1999 a jury acquitted Vaughn of sexual assault in a separate case. He said that she’d consented to having sex.
The circumstances in the current charges against Vaughn were similar. Prosecutors said he would break into older apartments or houses while the women were sleeping. He often unscrewed the porch light bulb.
Prosecutors said they were certain that Vaughn attacked or planned to attack more women. Police found video he’d taken showing that he had stalked potential victims.
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