JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A convicted serial rapist already serving a 23-year sentence for three attacks in 2010 is likely to face several more charges and investigators say they have found a pattern in his predatory ways.
Test results from rape kits have already linked Gary Clair, 56, to several sexual batteries in Jacksonville and two more are now under investigation.
"Looking for an opportunistic situation where he may get them in a vulnerable position and then attack from there," said Sgt. Jacob Devevo, in cold case detective with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Investigators said Clair pretends to be a friend, then turns on his victims.
"There's almost this initial meeting phase where you want to project trustworthiness to lower someone's guard down and once you get them in a position of vulnerability, whether it be by location or state, then when he has the advantage, then he would flip the personality switch if you will and attack," Devevo said.
Devevo says sex crimes are highly under-reported, so it's very common for offenders to select victims that may live a very high-risk lifestyle or have a low potential of reporting.
"Women have waited a long time for justice and so, sometimes, it's difficult to get over that hurdle of time having passed and their cases have not been prosecuted or justice has not been served for them," said Tonya Barge, an assistant at the State Attorney's Office.
Here's a look at where Clair's first crimes happened.
May 2, 2010: Woman was walking on Cleveland Road when she was grabbed, pulled into some bushes and raped.
May 6, 2010: Second victim kidnapped and raped.
Sept. 13, 2010: Woman met Clair at a store and walked back to his house with him, where she was kidnapped and raped.
After DNA evidence matched Clair to one of these rapes, he was arrested in March 2011. Clair pleaded guilty in January 2012 to all three cases and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Seven years later, Clair was charged in a fourth case -- a March 13, 2010, rape of a woman walking on North Main Street. The warrant says she was approached by Clair, dragged to a grassy area and raped.
An additional case from April 13, 2010, still under investigation happened near John Love Elementary School, near what is called the "catwalk."
Florida has been caught in a backlog of untested rape kits. At the end of 2018, FDLE reported 7,137 backlogged rape kits had been completed.
According to Devevo, research shows that rape is a highly underreported crime, so there is a good likelihood that there were victims assaulted who never came forward to the Sheriff's Office.