3 Life Sentences for Mo. Rapist

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) _ The confessed South Side Rapist who terrorized St. Louis area women for at least a decade was sentenced to life in prison.

Dennis Rabbitt was sentenced after pleading guilty Thursday in St. Louis County Court. Rabbitt, 43, entered the same plea earlier this month in St. Louis city court. He faces five more consecutive life sentences for assaulting 13 St. Louis women and attempting to assault one teen-age girl when he is sentenced there April 7.

``For all intents and purposes, it’s over and done with,″ said St. Louis County prosecutor McCulloch, referring to the three consecutive life sentences Rabbitt was given Thursday.

Police have documented 29 sexual assaults by Rabbitt dating back to 1988, but believe he was responsible for many more. He was called the South Side Rapist because many of the rapes occurred in south St. Louis.

Despite a nationwide manhunt, authorities couldn’t find Rabbitt until Feb. 28. Two officers looking for a 15-year-old runaway girl found Rabbitt with the girl at a motel in Albuquerque, N.M.