Indicted Church Rapist Confesses, Police Say

The man indicted in the rape and robbery of a woman at St. Timothy United Methodist Church has confessed to the crimes, Maj. Brian Harris of the DeKalb County Police Department said.

John Russell Carver, who lives in Atlanta, took a MARTA bus on Feb. 26 to Stone Mountain with the intent of finding a place to enter, Harris said at a PRISM meeting at the church Thursday night.  "It was random,"  he said.

Carver was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on 12 counts, including rape, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment. His arraignment will be May 4.

A St. Timothy staff member was working at the church on Memorial Drive the afternoon of Feb. 26 when she opened the door to a man asking for help, according to another church employee. She was then raped, beaten and robbed.

DeKalb police have increased patrols in the area of the church since the incident, with good results, Harris said. Residential burglaries have decreased 66 percent and pedestrian robberies by 50 percent, he said. 

"We hammered this area pretty hard," Maj. Harris told Patch. "It just makes me sick," he said of the crime. Harris was recently promoted to major and is commander of the Tucker precinct.

Carver has a a "very violent criminal history," Sgt. Dave Brown of the special victims unit said. Carver's rap sheet includes robberies and drug arrests. He was in a DeKalb County jail for parole violation when a DNA swab test linked him to the crime on Memorial Drive. 

Check back later Friday for more news from the PRISM (Pride Rings in Stone Mountain) meeting.