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DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office arrests man accused of numerous sexual assaults

Crime and public safety Metro ATL Trending Tucker

DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office arrests man accused of numerous sexual assaults

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Wesley Cooley. Image provided by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.
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DeKalb County, GA – The DeKalb County District Attorney and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office on March 4 announced the arrest of a man accused of involvement in eight unsolved sexual assault cases.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, with help from the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, on Feb. 24 arrested 58-year-old Wesley Cooley near his Conyers home. He’s charged with rape and other charges are pending, the District Attorney’s Office said.

“The current charge against Cooley stems from the April 2017 rape of a female victim in Tucker,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “He was identified as a suspect in February 2020 following a positive DNA match. Further investigation revealed that DNA evidence from that 2017 crime also links the same attacker to seven other unsolved sexual assault cases throughout metro Atlanta, including four in DeKalb, two in Atlanta, and one in Conyers. The crimes span a period of more than 20 years, dating back to 1999. The victims range in age from 15 to 38 at the time of the respective offenses.”

He was identified due to the efforts of the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force and the DeKalb County and Conyers Police Departments.

“GASAKI was established in 2018 in partnership with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) as part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar, federal grant under the Nation Sexual Assault Kit Initiative,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “The team consists of prosecutors, investigators, and victim advocates from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, the Atlanta Police Department, the Prosecuting Attorneys Council (PAC), and CJCC (with resources from the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department and Live Safe)  working collaboratively to solve cold case sexual assault crimes. Additionally, the GASAKI Task Force relies on the ongoing work and commitment of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab to test backlogged Sexual Assault Kits.”

There’s a possibility Cooley may be accused of more crimes.

“He also faces a separate charge of Criminal Attempt to Commit a Felony for an alleged attempted sexual attack of a female victim in Lithonia in October 2017,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Anyone who believes they may have been victimized by him is asked to call the Day League’s 24-hour crisis hotline at 404-377-1428. Counselors are on standby to assist and to forward information to law enforcement.”

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