By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
Feb. 16, 2011

Bernard Jackson, also known as the “Waldo Rapist,” has tacked on more charges to his record.

During a Feb. 16 press conference at the Jackson County Judicial Circuit Courthouse, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kanatzar said Jackson has now been linked to two more rapes in the Waldo area, which occurred on Sept. 29, 2009, and Jan. 23, 2010.

Each incident involved separate women and occurred at each woman’s home, Kanatzar said.

Jackson’s new charges for the Sept. 29 incident include burglary in the first degree, kidnapping, felonious restraint, forcible sodomy, three counts of forcible rape and one count of sexual abuse.

Charges in the Jan. 23 incident include burglary in the first degree, second degree robbery, kidnapping, felonious restraint, nine counts of forcible sodomy and one count of sexual abuse.

Jackson is currently in jail without bond in connection to four rapes that occurred from 1983 to 1984. For those charges, Jackson is facing the possibility of multiple life sentences.

Five recent attacks from 2009 to 2010, including the two on Sept. 29, 2009, and Jan 23, 2010, were reported in the Waldo area. At this time, there is not sufficient evidence to charge Jackson in the other three attacks, but he remains a person of interest, Kanatzar said. The investigation is ongoing.

For a full story, check out the Feb. 17 print edition of Northeast News.

TOP: This chart was presented during a Feb. 16 press conference announcing that Bernard Jackson has been linked to two recent rapes in the Waldo area. The blue dots represent the cold cases that were filed from the 1980s that are now linked to Jackson. Red dots represent the two new cases from 2009 and 2010 that are linked to Jackson. BELOW: Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kanatzar addresses the press Feb. 16 and announces that Bernard Jackson, also known as the “Waldo Rapist,” has now been linked to two recent rapes in the Waldo area. Photos by Leslie Collins