LANCASTER — A 20-year-old Lancaster man has admitted to the 2014 rape and beating of a Lancaster woman after police used DNA evidence to connect him to the crime, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Robert R. Pitt recently pleaded guilty to nine charges, including felony counts of rape and battery, in Lancaster County Court. Lancaster County Judge Jeffrey Wright accepted the plea and will order a sentence in about 90 days, after a background check on Pitt in completed, the DA’s office said.
Pitt admitted to attacking the woman on the 400 block of South Duke Street on August 10, 2014. He was a stranger to the victim. Pitt was a week short of his 18th birthday when he targeted the woman, taking her cellphone as she attempted to call for help, the DA’s office said.
The woman eventually was able to break free and escape. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
Pitt was a prison inmate last year when his DNA profile matched evidence from the crime scene, the DA’s office said. Lancaster City Police Det. Robert Whiteford filed the charges.
Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield petitioned the case to be tried in adult court; a judge granted that motion.
Pitt’s case was scheduled for trial Monday; he entered the plea Aug. 11.
