A preliminary hearing for the man accused by prosecutors as the East Coast Rapist has been postponed after his lawyer requested a court-ordered mental evaluation of his client.
Authorities believe that 40-year-old Aaron Thomas is responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women from Virginia to Connecticut over the span of a decade.
A hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday in juvenile court in Manassas on the most recent attack — the Halloween 2009 abduction of three teenage trick-or-treaters in Woodbridge. Two were raped before Thomas was forced to flee.
Thomas' court-appointed attorney, Ronald Fahy, said in a motion that Thomas has engaged in self-destructive behavior and refuses to communicate with him.
The hearing has been rescheduled for March 1. He faces up to life in prison.
