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“When he arrived at the motel, (he) ordered the victim into his truck after flashing a gun,” Boston’s office said. He took the young woman to Exchange Park on Columbia Drive and raped her.

Lawton then drove her back to the motel and she reported the crime to police.

Less than a month later, on Oct. 9, a 21-year-old woman said she met Lawton after posting a Backpage.com ad. He picked her up in downtown Decatur and said he needed to stop at an ATM. Instead, prosecutors said, he took her to Mason Mill Park and, holding her at gunpoint, made her undress and perform sexual acts.

Again, he returned the victim to where he picked her up.

Lawton was arrested Oct. 12 after he was essentially caught in the act in Exchange Park, Boston’s office said. Police officers spotted his pickup truck and saw him “scrambling to put his shirt on and then attempting to drive away,” the statement said.

Dominic Lawton, a former Georgia State University student, appears in court in 2016 on charges of raping women at public parks. Credit: JOSHUA SHARPE/JOSHUA.SHARPE@AJC.COM Credit: JOSHUA SHARPE/JOSHUA.SHARPE@AJC.COM

“A 17-year-old, partially dressed victim, exited (Lawton’s) truck and ran towards the patrol car and reported being sexually assaulted,” the statement said.

She later told investigators that she met the suspect at the mall and later met up with him to go on a date to the movies. Instead, he drove her to the park and forced her to have sex with him.

After Lawton was arrested, he was linked to two other sexual assaults, one of which occurred in June 2016, officials said. The victim in that case has since died.

His DNA was also a match for a rape kit in Tift County. That cold case is pending prosecution.

A DeKalb County judge sentenced Lawton Friday to three consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years in prison.

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