HOUSTON – An accused serial rapist is behind bars and police say he is responsible for at least six sexual assaults across the southeast Houston area since May.
David E. Beard, 30, is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault.
According to police, in each case, Beard targeted women he believed were prostitutes.
"It is our belief that the suspect believed these women participated in a high-risk lifestyle," Officer K. Nolan with the Houston Police Department said. "He used a firearm in all instances to get them inside of the vehicle and threatened to kill all of them."
Police said he was driving a red or maroon four-door vehicle picked up women in the late-morning hours in the Sunnyside area, forcing them into his car and then threatening them to perform a sex act. He also made the women close their eyes.
Police said Beard then pulled into the garage of a residence and sexually assaulted the women again.
Beard dropped off the victims each time near Dunlap and Dublin streets in southwest Houston, not far from his listed address in Missouri City.
An investigation revealed Beard as the suspect in the case, police said, after he was positively identified by two victims.
VIDEO: Police discuss sex assault cases
Beard was taken into custody Oct. 5 without incident. He is in the Harris County Jail.
Police told KPRC 2 that Beard is married and is a father.
Investigators believe there are more victims out there and that they might be afraid to come forward because they are involved in prostitution and police might not believe them.
"Looking at the date range which the cases came in, the first case being May 9, the last case being Sept. 27, that we know to date, we do believe there are some other victims out there that may be have not contacted us and it could be because they participate in a high-risk lifestyle and they think that there may be judgment and we are not going to believe them. But we are strongly encouraging them to contact us because we know that this assault happened and we want to hear their story," Nolan said.
"We need to know how many victims are out there. It's important for us to know so that we can know how far back it went. Did it all of a sudden begin in May and did he just stop on the 27th of September? We don't believe that either," Nolan said.
Anyone with information is asked to call HPD Special Victims Division at 713-308-1100.