A DeKalb County man accused of a string of metro Atlanta sexual assaults is set to return to court Thursday for a plea hearing, prosecutors say. Wesley Cooley, who investigators say was identified by DNA in a 2017 Tucker attack and then linked to seven other cold-case assaults across the region, has been held since his arrest on Feb. 24, 2020. Prosecutors say the cases stretch across nearly two decades and involve victims ranging in age from 15 to 38.
Plea hearing and DA statement
According to CBS News Atlanta, Cooley is scheduled to appear before a DeKalb County judge at 1:30 p.m. Thursday for a plea hearing. The district attorney's office says DA Sherry Boston will hold a press conference after the proceeding. Court records list the upcoming appearance as a plea hearing.
DNA, SAKI and the cold-case probe
The Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative task force and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council say a DNA match identified Cooley as a suspect in an April 2017 rape in Tucker, and that the same profile tied him to seven other unsolved sexual assaults across metro Atlanta. The crimes, according to investigators, date back to 1999 and include four offenses in DeKalb County, two in Atlanta and one in Conyers. As detailed by the CJCC, the identification depended on new testing of previously backlogged kits, while a separate report on 8 cold cases highlighted how the DNA hit connected the investigations.
Victims and resources
Authorities say the known victims range in age from 15 to 38, and prosecutors have asked anyone who believes they may have been targeted to contact investigators. Support providers were put in place when Cooley was arrested, and officials published the Day League crisis hotline at 404-377-1428 for survivors. As reported by WSB-TV, investigators have continued to encourage any additional possible victims to come forward.
Legal outlook
Court records list charges that include three counts of rape, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated sodomy, criminal attempt to commit rape and aggravated assault, according to CBS News Atlanta. Cooley has been held without bond since his Feb. 24, 2020 arrest, and any plea or conviction would proceed through the DeKalb Superior Court system.
