Philadelphia

Rapist Found Guilty of Pennypack Park Sex Assaults

A man convicted in Wisconsin of sexually assaulting a woman he met online has also been found guilty of raping two women in a Northeast Philadelphia park.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports 40-year-old Robert Palen was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting two women in Pennypack Park in 2010 and 2011.

Prosecutors say police believed one man could have been responsible for the rapes of two women and the physical assault of a third. But the probe went cold when no DNA matches were found.

The investigation was revived in 2014 when DNA from Philadelphia matched samples collected in the Wisconsin case.

Palen faces a maximum sentence of 40 to 80 years behind bars when he's sentenced on Aug. 4.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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