An Augusta man prosecuted twice before for sexual assaults was arrested again this week, this time for rape and sodomy.
Gerald W. Smith Sr., 54, was arrested Tuesday, May 24. It’s Smith’s third arrest for sexual violence in Augusta.
According to an incident report obtained by The Augusta Press Wednesday, a woman called 911 on April 14 to report she had been sexually assaulted. She told the responding deputy that she was staying with Smith for a few days after she lost her home. That morning she said Smith forced sexual acts that she was too scared to fight. The woman was taken to University Hospital for a sexual assault examination.
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Smith served time in prison after he and another man plead guilty to reduced charges instead of facing a jury verdict on charges they both raped a woman. Both were arrested on rape charges in April 2008 but both pleaded guilty to false imprisonment in March 2009. Smith was sentenced to six years in prison followed by four years on probation.
Smith was still on probation when arrested in April 2008.
In 2005, Smith plead guilty to reduced charges of two counts of false imprisonment as a Richmond County Superior Court jury deliberated his case. He was accused by two women of rape in separate assaults that occurred in the fall of 2003. Charges filed in an alleged attempted rape of a third woman were dismissed.
In 2005 Smith was sentenced to two years in prison followed by eight years on probation under the First Offender’s Act.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.Â
