Suspected 'NorCal Rapist,' linked to 1991 Rohnert Park, Sonoma assaults, arrested after 27 years

The 58-year-old suspect was taken into custody near UC Berkeley, where he worked since 1992.|

After more than 25 years, two victims of brutal sexual attacks in Sonoma County have the name of their suspected assailant, a Benicia man authorities named Friday as the prime suspect in at least 10 sexual assaults across northern California.

Roy Charles Waller, 58, is suspected of committing a series of home-invasion sexual assaults in six counties including two crimes in Sonoma County. The assaults here linked to the suspect, dubbed the NorCal Rapist, were reported in 1991 in Rohnert Park and a half-year later in Sonoma. The other incidents were reported in Yolo, Sacramento, Butte, Solano, and Contra Costa counties.

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said in a press conference her office used a genealogy database to help them find the suspect who was charged with 12 felony forcible sexual assaults, including allegations he had used a gun in some of the incidents.

Waller was taken into custody near the University of California, Berkeley campus, where he has worked for more than 26 years.

Waller was booked into the Sacramento County Jail about 7:45 p.m. Thursday. He's being held without bail on suspicion of three felony sexual assault charges, including rape, forced oral copulation and forcible penetration with a foreign object, records show. Waller is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Sacramento Superior Court, department 63.

In the Rohnert Park case, the victim described the suspect as a soft-spoken and apologetic man who may have stalked her for some time prior to breaking into her home, she told The Press Democrat in 2006. The woman said Rohnert Park police officers initially doubted her story when she reported the incident and a story published in 1992 quoted a police lieutenant as saying they had concerns about the her credibility.

Waller worked in the environment, health and safety office of UC Berkeley since 1992 as a safety specialist. His duties included managing programs to ensure safety and training for equipment and machinery including forklifts, aerial lifts and respirators, said Roqua Montez, a university spokesman. He lives in Benicia and is married, Sacramento officials said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets. You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.

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