Georgia investigators are looking for potential additional victims of Julius Hunter, 42, a convicted Florida sex offender whose DNA has now been linked to three sexual assault cases in Georgia. Authorities say the pattern points to a possible serial offender who used Craigslist job ads to lure women.
Hunter faces rape, aggravated sodomy and kidnapping charges tied to a 2016 attack on a 19-year-old at a Clarkston apartment complex. A DeKalb County grand jury indicted him on Aug. 11.
According to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the teen believed she was going to a $300 overnight babysitting job when Hunter arranged a ride-share to an apartment near 700 Jolly Avenue on July 27, 2016. When she arrived, there were no children present — only Hunter and another man. She tried to leave, but authorities say Hunter stopped her and sexually assaulted her over several hours before letting her go the next day. She fled by cab, had the driver call 911, met officers at a gas station, and was later examined at a hospital.
The case went unsolved for years. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation developed a male DNA profile from the assault kit and entered it into the national CODIS database, but it produced no match at the time.
That changed after Hunter pleaded no contest in 2021 to an unrelated sexual battery case in Florida involving his former girlfriend. His DNA, collected following that conviction, was entered into CODIS and matched not only the Clarkston evidence but also DNA from two other sexual assault cases in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties from 2016 and 2017.
Hunter has not been charged in those two additional cases. DeKalb County District Attorney Investigator Brandi Rogers told Fox News Digital that investigators have been unable to reconnect with the women involved.
Rogers also raised the possibility of victims beyond Georgia and Florida. “Hunter grew up in New Jersey, so it is possible there may be victims there,” she said.
Investigators have not identified the second man who was present in the Clarkston apartment and are still seeking information about him. He has not been charged.
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said in a Sept. 14 media alert that the Georgia cases shared similarities beyond the DNA evidence, noting that Hunter used Craigslist ads to solicit women for jobs described as “babysitting, modeling, dancing and massages.”
Hunter was arrested in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 13, two days after the DeKalb County grand jury handed up its indictment. He was extradited to Georgia and booked into the DeKalb County Jail on Aug. 20. At the time of his arrest, he was serving an 11-year probation sentence stemming from the Florida conviction.
Don Plummer, a spokesperson for the Georgia Public Defender Council, which is representing Hunter, declined to comment on the case.
The Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force — a collaboration of prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates focused on cold-case sexual assaults — is now investigating the cases. Rogers said the number of incidents within a relatively short span suggests there could be more victims who have not yet come forward.
“We ask anyone who believes they may have been victimized to call our tip line at 404-371-2444,” Rogers said. “It is important that we hear their stories so we can offer them support whether or not they decide to move forward with prosecution.”
Rogers emphasized that contacting investigators does not obligate a victim to pursue prosecution.
