Rape suspect apprehended

This is not original reporting. All information compiled from "Police Have Suspect In Attacks" from The Washington Post.

A 37-year-old man was arrested and charged Monday, Jan. 17, with the recent spree of burglaries and sexual assaults near Blair and other crimes going back as far as two years.

Jorge A. Rivera-Aleman, who reportedly lived on Kodiak Drive in Silver Spring for the past two months, was charged with first-degree rape and burglary for the November attack on a 13-year-old when she came home from school. In two other cases, he was charged with first-degree burglary and attempted burglary of two homes in White Oak last week.

At a hearing yesterday afternoon, Assistant State's Attorney Donna Fenton reported that Rivera-Aleman confessed to the rape in interviews and said that he was "a danger to the community." If he is convicted, he faces a life sentence for the rape and a 20-year sentence for burglary.

DNA samples from Rivera-Aleman will be tested for a possible link to four other attacks against women and teenage girls since March 2003. This wave of attacks prompted Blair to make announcements and write letters home to warn of the dangers the man posed.

Riviera-Aleman was arrested Monday morning when he tried to break into Katherine Carlson's home in White Oak. Carlson, an Episcopal priest, was having a cup of coffee in her kitchen as her 15-year-old daughter slept upstairs. When a gloved hand opened the living room window, she screamed and called 911 as he walked around the house. She then described his car to the police when he left. He was arrested when police identified and stopped his vehicle.

Riviera-Aleman's hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.