Philadelphia Serial Rapist Pleads Guilty in 3 Attacks
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A serial sexual predator today pleaded guilty to three attacks on women earlier this year, and now faces a 30-60 year sentence as part of a plea deal.
Defendant Joseph Woods, 41, has admitted that he targeted women he saw he saw on Septa's Broad Street Subway line, following them off the trains and attacking them.
Philadelphia prosecutor Jack O'Neill says Woods -- a serial sexual predator who had gotten out of prison just eight months earlier after serving a full 20-year sentence for rape -- attacked a 15-year-old girl in March near Broad and Lehigh (see related story).
"She got near a fairly secluded area, actually a lot," O'Neill tells KYW Newsradio. "He grabbed her, lifted her off the ground, slammed her down onto the ground, and then ripped off her clothing and raped her."
Woods also raped and robbed a 21-year-old woman in May at knifepoint. He threatened to kill both those victims if they didn't cooperate.
O'Neill says Woods targeted the third victim in early June and grabbed her, but she screamed and 17th District police nearby responded, saving her and arresting him (see related story).
