Man pleads guilty to 3 Boston rapes in 1991

BOSTON (AP) - A Boston man pleaded guilty Thursday to raping three women in 1991 in a case that saw another man wrongly convicted and imprisoned for 12 years before being exonerated.

Jerry Dixon admitted to a total of 10 counts of aggravated rape for attacks on the three women during a four-month span in 1991. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

Anthony Powell was convicted of one of the rapes in 1992. He was freed in 2004 after he was exonerated by DNA testing. Powell was in the courtroom Thursday as Dixon pleaded guilty, but declined to speak to reporters.

In 2006, before prosecutors were able to identify Dixon, they indicted his genetic profile to prevent the statute of limitations from expiring. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court later upheld their right to seek so-called John Doe indictments.

Dixon's attorney said in court that he was introduced to alcohol as a young child and became an alcoholic. She said he claims he blacked out and does not have any memory of the rapes.