Jacksonville man arrested for rapes from the 1990s

A man has been arrested after evidence linked him to multiple rape cases from the mid-to-late 1990s, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday in a press conference.

Calvin Dumas, 68, was connected to the assaults, which occurred between 1995 and 1998, from familial DNA evidence, the agency said. He was active in Brentwood and on the Eastside. Genealogical mapping of one of Dumas’ family members allowed law enforcement agencies to make the arrest.

Investigators said Dumas was arrested at a Jacksonville Golden Corral location.

The cases were investigated independently and were originally suspended because of lack of suspect information. 

Sheriff T.K. Waters said authorities previously had nothing to match Dumas’ profile to. Waters called the crimes life-altering.

Facts and circumstances of the crimes are not being released, Waters said.

“I will tell you that Dumas committed these crimes followed a consistent patterns,” Waters said. “He would break into a home at night and sexually batter a woman inside that residence.”

Melissa Nelson with the State Attorney’s Office Fourth Judicial District said Dumas is a nightmare for women everywhere. She said he was arrested in 1973 for raping his neighbor and received a 20-year sentence. He was released in 1981. 

Dumas’ MO was breaking into a woman’s home at knifepoint, raping them and threatening them if they went to law enforcement, Nelson added. She also said Dumas targeted single mothers.

Nelson called Dumas a “serial rapist” and that his MO was “narrow.”

“For three of these rapes, he was only identified just recently when advances in DNA technology allowed for familial DNA testing,” Nelson said.

Any crime that has a DNA profile that JSO has kept, the agency will check, Waters said. The sheriff added it’s “logical to believe” that Dumas could have raped more women.

“I don’t believe this guy stopped at three,” Waters said.