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DEKALB COUNTY, GA—Wesley Cooley, a 64-year-old serial rapist was sentenced to life on today (March 12), after pleading guilty to sexual assault cold cases spanning nearly two decades.
The unsolved rapes occurred in the metro Atlanta area from 1999 to 2017, District Attorney Sherry Boston said. Authorities got a break in the case from the April 2017 rape of a female in Tucker, GA. DNA evidence from that case linked the same attacker to seven other unsolved sexual assault cases including four in DeKalb, two in Atlanta, and one in Conyers. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 38, authorities said.
“Today is about the victims on whose behalf we advocate–victims who for too long have been marginalized, not believed, forgotten, and hidden in the shadows. Today, we say ‘We see you, we will continue to fight for you, to seek answers and justice on your behalf –no matter how long it takes,’” Boston said during a press conference following the hearing.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston speaks during a press conference held March 12, 2026 concerning serial rapist Wesley Cooley.
Cooley pleaded guilty as indicted to three counts of Rape, as well as charges of Kidnapping with Bodily Injury, Aggravated Sodomy, Criminal Attempt to Commit Rape, and Aggravated Assault stemming from assaults against four female victims ages 16 to 28 at the time.
Following the non-negotiated plea, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams, who presided over the hearing, sentenced Cooley to Life Without the Possibility of Parole, plus 50 years to serve consecutively.
Each of the DeKalb cases follow a similar pattern where Cooley approached young women who were alone, offered them a ride or other assistance, then drove them to a second location and assaulted the:
October 16, 2012:
Female victim, age 18
Location 1: Panola Road and Redan Road
Location 2: Redan Road and South Hairston Road
While the victim was at a bus stop, Cooley approached her in a green sedan and offered her a ride. She accepted, but Cooley missed the turn and took the victim to a different location where he physically assaulted and raped her.
February 18, 2013:
Female victim, age 16
Location 1: Miller Grove High School
Location 2: Sandstone Subdivision off of Browns Mill Road
Cooley started talking to the victim while she was sitting on the bleachers behind Miller Grove High School. When she attempted to leave, Cooley offered her a ride in a green sedan and also offered her a job at a grocery store. The victim declined several times, but eventually accepted the ride. Cooley pulled into a driveway to “pick something up,” then raped and assaulted the victim.
April 25, 2017:
Female victim, age 28
Location 1: Lawrenceville Hwy at I-285
Location 2: Northlake Parkway and Lavista Road
Cooley offered the victim a ride while she was walking to a gas station to use the restroom. The victim, who was carrying luggage, declined. After she exited the bathroom, she found Cooley placing her luggage into his white pick-up truck. He insisted on giving her a ride, so she agreed. Cooley offered the victim money to spend the day with him. When she declined, he parked the truck in the parking lot of the Northlake Inn and raped the victim. Cooley dropped the victim off at Northlake Mall.
October 16, 2017:
Female victim, age 19
Location 1: In front of a fast-food restaurant on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain
Location 2: Off of Tasman Trail
The victim was panhandling when Cooley stopped to offer her a ride to get food and collect food stamps. The victim agreed, and Cooley took her to a home to wait until the office opened. While there, Cooley picked up a brick, forced the victim to remove her clothes, and threatened to kill her if she didn’t comply. The two struggled and Cooley strangled the victim. She was able to escape before a sexual assault occurred. She ran unclothed to a neighboring house to call 911. Cooley threw her clothing in the road and drove away in a grey Dodge SUV. Law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on an SUV matching the description provided by the victim, found her purse in the vehicle, and arrested Cooley.
Cooley was arrested after the attempted rape in October 2017, but he was not connected to the other assaults until the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force (GASAKI) began investigating.
When a detective from the DeKalb County Police Department received a DNA match from the April 2017 case to the unknown perpetrator in the other cases, he contacted GASAKI. Through a review of the evidence in all of the cases, and working in partnership with the Conyers, DeKalb and Atlanta Police Departments, GASAKI found evidence to identify Cooley as a suspect in the April 2017 rape. GASAKI secured a warrant for a DNA sample from Cooley, and confirmed in January 2020 he was a positive DNA match to all the cases with the same unknown perpetrator.
After Cooley’s DNA was linked to the cases, he was arrested near his Conyers home in February 2020 by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. Cooley has been held in the DeKalb County Jail without bond since his arrest. A DeKalb County Grand Jury indicted him in April 2022.
The case, assigned to the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Agatha Romanowski, with assistance from Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Tabitha Pazmino, District Attorney Investigators Crispin Henry and Brandi Rogers, and Victim Advocate Julie Varnado. The DeKalb County Police Department led the initial investigation.
About the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force (GASAKI)
GASAKI was established in 2018 in partnership with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) as part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar federal grant under the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.
The team consists of prosecutors, investigators, and victim advocates from the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, the Prosecuting Attorneys Council (PAC), and CJCC (with resources from Bridging Hope) working collaboratively to solve cold case sexual assault crimes
Additionally, the GASAKI Task Force relies on the ongoing work and commitment of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab to process previously untested sexual assault kits.