A D.C. man has been found guilty of luring women into his unlicensed cab and raping them in three separate incidents between 2005 and 2008.
Emero Tornero, 32, is already serving 24 years for previous crimes. He was convicted Monday on 16 new charges that included multiple counts of kidnapping and sexual abuse with aggravating circumstances, as well as related firearms offenses.
Authorities say Tornero pretended to be a cab driver and picked up women who hailed his "cab" -- which was rigged so the back doors and windows could not be opened from the inside.
He then took the victims to secluded locations and raped them, according to a release from the office of U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. In one case, he threw a victim's three-year-old daughter into the front seat before assaulting the mother in the back seat, authorities say.
Two of the three incidents were linked to Tornero through a DNA database.
"This guilty verdict demonstrates the power of DNA to help us capture and convict the most dangerous sex offenders," Machen said. "Emero Tornero is a serial rapist whose shocking brutality forever changed the lives of three women who just needed a cab ride. Our community will be a safer place with this violent criminal behind bars."
Tornero faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will be sentenced March 13.
