First rapist in US convicted by DNA evidence set to leave Florida treatment facility

Tommie Lee Andrews has been held in facility since 2012

(2012) Tommie Lee Andrews prior to being sent to the Florida Civil Commitment Center (Copyright 2021 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Tommie Lee Andrews, the first person in the U.S. to be convicted of rape because of DNA evidence, is set to be released from a Florida treatment facility where he has been held since his release from prison in 2012.

A judge signed an order Friday granting Andrews release from the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia.

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Andrews was sent to the facility under Florida’s Jimmy Ryce Act when he was 49 years old. That act provides for the civil confinement of a group of sexual offenders who — due to their criminal history and the presence of mental abnormality — are found likely to engage in future acts of sexual violence if they are not confined in a secure facility for long-term control, care, and treatment, according to the state.

A jury decided he was likely to commit another act of sexual violence when he was originally set to be released from prison after nearly 25 years behind bars in Oct. 2012.

Andrews was originally convicted in 1988 of two rapes; however, investigators had said that the same serial rapist was responsible for as many as 23 attacks in the Orlando area.

Andrews was originally sentenced to more than 100 years in prison but due to some loopholes in state law and credit he received for good behavior, Andrews served only 25 years.


About the Author:

Thomas Mates is a digital storyteller for News 6 and ClickOrlando.com. He also produces the podcast Florida Foodie. Thomas is originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and worked in Portland, Oregon before moving to Central Florida in August 2018. He graduated from Temple University with a degree in Journalism in 2010.

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