Former Corrections Officer Pleaded Guilty To 'Violent Rapes': DA

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — A former Alabama corrections officer has pleaded guilty to a slew of charges related to allegations he raped two women in Sandy Springs.

Matthew Lee Moore, 50, pleaded guilty on Thursday in the middle of his trial in Fulton County Superior Court, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. said.

Moore entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to a 2018 indictment and was convicted of rape, aggravated sodomy, false imprisonment, impersonating an officer, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated assault, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office said.

Moore was sentenced to life in prison serving 30 years and life on probation.

Moore was arrested and charged by Sandy Springs police in connection to two separate attacks on women. The first alleged assault occurred June 17, 2010, when the victim said she met Moore a few days earlier, the Fulton DA's Office said. The woman said they both agreed to meet at a hotel in Sandy Springs.

During that encounter, prosecutors said Moore was wearing a police uniform, complete with a badge and belt containing pepper spray and a handgun.

"The victim told police that while they were inside the room, Moore ordered her to lie on the bed, and that's when he raped her," the DA's office added.

Moore left his gun on the bed during the rape. He also left a used napkin after the rape, which was later used as evidence when the woman requested a sexual assault examination, the DA said.

The second incident, which occurred Nov. 15, 2015, stemmed from Moore meeting the second woman who had placed an advertisement on the now defunct website Backpage.com to solicit clients who were interested in receiving an erotic massage.

The woman agreed to meet Moore at the Hawthorne Suites along Barfield Road in Sandy Springs. Moore took out a knife and a firearm which he pointed at the victim, and said to her, “You’re going to do everything I say tonight, or I’ll be the last person you see," according to the District Attorney.

Moore used the knife to cut off the woman's clothing and then put the knife and a pair of metal handcuffs on the bed. Moore also used his cellphone to record the incident. He put pantyhose around the victim’s hands and then zip tied her arms behind her back, before raping the victim.

The woman was able to escape, and screamed and ran toward the door. Three men who were outside in the hallway saw the victim who was naked and screaming for help.

Additionally, they saw Moore, who was also naked, point his gun at them, force the three men to get his phone, and then he left the hotel.

The victim also underwent a sexual assault examination. Investigators gathered several items that Moore left behind including zip ties, stockings and handcuffs. Those handcuffs, the DA's office states, were inscribed with the name of the detention center where Moore worked. They also found DNA at the scene that matched the former corrections officer, the District Attorney's Office notes.

Later, in 2017, the sexual assault examination showed DNA that matched the DNA collected from the victim of the Homestead Suites rape in Sandy Springs in 2010, as well as a 2008 sexual assault in Homewood, Alabama, a 2010 sexual assault in Cobb County, and a 2010 sexual assault in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Sandy Springs Police Department conducted a search of cell phone records which led investigators to Moore. Investigators found out that Moore worked at a correctional facility in Alabama, and they began to track his phone. On March 30, 2018, the Sandy Springs Police Department executed search warrants at Moore’s home and job.

A DNA swab was collected from Moore, and they also recovered zip ties, pantyhose restraints, computers, cell phones, and sex toys. The video that Moore recorded of the 2015 rape in Sandy Springs was still on his phone three years later. Investigators arrested Moore for the rapes in Sandy Springs.

The DNA collected from Moore on March 30, 2018, matched the DNA collected during the crimes in Fulton County, Cobb County, Alabama, and a sexual assault in Jupiter, Florida on March 7, 2018.

"In many of those cases, he impersonated a police officer by brandishing a weapon and displaying a badge before raping the victims," the office notes.

Moore was employed at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville and had been with Alabama Department of Corrections since 2001. That state agency previously told Patch he immediately resigned from his position at the time of his arrest.

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