CORDOVA, TN (abc24.com) - A suspected serial rapist is behind bars in Shelby County. 41-year-old Anthony Alliano is charged with one count of rape, but police believe he is responsible for at least five others since 2003.
Neighbors have no idea how long Alliano has lived next door because they never saw him. Drew Lancaster says, "To find out now it's pretty amazing. I pretty much know everybody and I can't recollect who he is."
Lancaster lives four doors down from the suspected serial rapist. He was disturbed to find Alliano's backyard fence taken down, leaving easy access to Shelby Farms, just through the woods.
He believes the location of Alliano's home isn't coincidence. "My room's in the back and I can see people on the weekend walking through there, which I think is unsafe because it's very wooded, somebody could come back there and take somebody."
However, the one rape cops are releasing details on wasn't in Shelby Farms, it was in a home about five miles up the road. According to police, in 2010 a man broke into a Cordova woman's house, woke her up, held a knife to her and raped her in a bedroom closet. The suspect then stole the woman's credit card.
Days later, images were captured at a Cordova restaurant of the suspect using the victim's card. Memphis Police investigators recently linked DNA evidence to five other rapes. They re-released his photo and within one day, a tip led them to Alliano.
This isn't Alliano's first run in with police. In 2004, he was charged with the statutory rape of a 16 year old; that charge was later dismissed. In 2003, he was charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault.
Lancaster is afraid there could be more victims, "If people could recognize his face he probably didn't want to come out a lot. That's pretty sick. He'll probably have more people come forward, because in cases like that, people come forward and say it happened to me. It's pretty rough."
Police are not talking about the suspected rapist. The case is still under investigation.
Alliano is being held on a $250,000 bond.
