Man found guilty of rape spree in Westport area

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A jury has found a Kansas City man guilty of raping a dozen women in the city's Westport area between April 1985 and August 1986.

The Kansas City Star reports that jurors on Thursday found 52-year-old Shy Bland guilty of 12 rapes, five attempted rapes, seven sodomies, four assaults and three robberies.

The victims ranged in age from 21 to 40 and lived alone or with children in the Westport or West Plaza areas where Bland lived.

A police lab matched Bland's DNA to evidence from the old rape cases three years ago. The connection was made just before Bland became eligible for parole on a 115-year sentence for 1987 convictions for another rape and other crimes.

Bland could face multiple life prison terms when he is sentenced.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com