Police blast 'harmful' nickname of serial rapist as he's finally captured after 16 years By Rachel Bowman For Dailymail.Com Published: 15:23 EDT, 3 October 2024 | Updated: 15:26 EDT, 3 October 2024 e-mail View comments Washington, DC police have finally arrested a serial rapist suspect dubbed the 'Georgetown Cuddler' 16 years after he began his reign of terror around the nation's capital. Ernesto Mercado, 54, was arrested on Tuesday and charged in connection with five rapes in the Georgetown area of Northwest Washington, D.
C. beginning in 2008. Police were looking for a suspect who broke into women's homes - near Georgetown and the University of Maryland College Park - while they slept then sexually assault them.
This earned him the nickname the 'Georgetown Cuddler' or the 'College Park Cuddler' - which the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) condemned at its press conference. 'This man was a predator, and his intent was not to cuddle these women; his intent was to rape them,' said MPD investigator Alexander MacBean. Ernesto Mercado (pictured in 2019), 54, was arrested on Tuesday and charged in connection with five rapes in the Georgetown area beginning in 2008 The Metropolitan Police Department condemned the nickname the 'Georgetown Cuddler' or the 'College Park Cuddler' 'Over the years, this term has only caused more harm to our victims.
' Mercado was charged for sexual assaults on June 26, 2008; July 10, 2009; February 28, 2009; August 29, 2010 and August 31, 2012 in the D.