A suspected serial rapist who Georgia police have been searching for since 2015 was arrested Tuesday, more than a year after he was hired as a police recruit at their department.

Kenneth Thomas Bowen III, 24, was charged with seven counts of rape and one count of sexual battery, Clayton County Police chief Kevin Roberts said at a news conference Wednesday.

"Kenneth Bowen was never a certified police officer with this agency. He was hired by me in June 2018," Roberts said. "He was also terminated by me on Sept. 12, 2018."

Bowen was removed from the agency during the academy process after being absent without leave and then being "untruthful," Roberts said. He was late for academy training early one morning in September and told supervisors that he would arrive in 30 minutes.

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"That 30 minute ETA turned into a 3 or 4 hour ETA, and upon arriving he gave multiple statements that differed as to where he was and who he was with," Roberts said.

Investigators received many leads in the rape cases and eliminated multiple suspects through DNA testing, said Clayton County Police Lt. Tom Reimers. Eventually the department began reviewing 911 calls about suspicious people in the area where the sexual assaults occurred looking for names.

Officers obtained his name and birth date from a call made in 2016 and noticed "striking similarities" between his photo and images of the suspect drawn by the sketch artist, Reimers said. Authorities executed a search warrant for Bowen's DNA last week, which was matched to the previously unknown assailant.

Bowen, who is in custody at Clayton County jail, appeared in court Tuesday. His preliminary hearing has not yet been scheduled.

"Had he not attempted to join the ranks of the Clayton County Police Department, it's questionable as to when we would have apprehended him," Roberts said.

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