Court records: Suspect in two sexual attack cases tampered with GPS monitor before second crime

WASHINGTON - According to court records, a suspect in two violent sexual attacks tampered with his GPS monitoring device but was not immediately arrested, allowing him to be free to reportedly commit the second crime.

FOX 5 has pieced together a timeline of the events that led up to the eventual arrest of 23-year-old Khary Edwards on Saturday.

In a notice to the court, the Pretrial Services Agency, which oversees defendants under court-ordered supervision, reported that Edwards' GPS monitor had been tampered with on October 16. They did not file that notice with the court until October 19. It was received on Monday, several days after Edwards is accused of a second sexual attack - an attempted rape and attempted murder in Prince George's County.

Edwards was under high-risk supervision after he was accused of a rape in late September, which led to the monitoring device.

It was not immediately clear why the Pretrial Services Agency did not have Edwards arrested immediately after the tampering allegations surfaced. That could have prevented him from committing the second crime Prince George's County police have said he committed when he attacked an 81-year-old woman in Camp Springs, according to charging documents.

The Pretrial Services Agency cited federal privacy laws and would not discuss specifics of Edwards' monitoring. It is clear from court records that the agency recommended Edwards be removed from the supervision program after the tampering allegations. That could have forced a judge to put him back in jail, but it never happened because the judge received the notice after Edwards was accused of the attempted sexual assault.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed legislation in January making tampering with a GPS monitor a crime, but it was apparently not enough in protecting the second victim police say Edwards attacked.

FOX 5 took these concerns of this case to D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. He acknowledged that something likely went wrong with this case and called it frustrating, but did not decisively say Edwards should have been in jail after the tampering allegations. He cited Edwards' right to due process under the law.

Edwards is currently being held in jail without bond as a result of the second case against him.