Police arrest suspect in Waldorf rape

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Stewart E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Charles County detectives have arrested the Bryantown man charged with raping a woman in Waldorf on Sept. 30.

On a tip, sheriff's officers found Edward Stanley Stewart III at a home in the 3800 block of Hemlock Place in Temple Hills, according to police.

Stewart, 23, is accused of attacking a woman as she walked to her car in the parking lot of the Southern Maryland Business Center at about 11:45 p.m., according to police. The next day, the woman reported a stranger had assaulted her and ran away when she fought him off, police stated.

On Oct. 1, before the incident was reported, a patrol officer found Stewart sleeping near the center and later connected the encounter to the rape, according to Diane Richardson, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

Upon further investigation, police obtained a warrant charging Stewart with the attack, Richardson said, leading to his arrest on Friday.

Richardson said sexual assaults on strangers are very rare in Charles County and called Stewart's identification and arrest the result of good police work.

"It was clear from the minute the attack was reported to us, that we had to put our full time and attention on this case and that's exactly what we did," she said.

Last year, Stewart entered an Alford plea to third-degree sex offense after being charged with molesting an 8-year-old girl, court records show.

He has since registered as a sex offender in Charles County.

See related stories

• Sex offender sought for rape in Waldorf
• Man gets one year in sex offense case

What readers said

• Lock up the bad guys