From 2006 to 2012, multiple women in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. reported being sexually assaulted by a stranger while they were asleep in their beds. Most of the victims were either current students or recent graduates of Georgetown University, per ABC 7 News .
Around the same time, similar instances of sexual assault were reported by women around the University of Maryland College Park as well as the Glover Park area of D.C. In an effort to deal with what was happening, terrified students began calling this man the Georgetown Cuddler . These cases remained unsolved for over a decade until an arrest was made in October 2024.
Who is the Georgetown Cuddler? Here’s what we know.
Who is the Georgetown Cuddler? A suspect has been arrested.
On October 1, 54-year-old Ernesto Mercado was arrested by police at his home near Arlington, Va. Authorities used forensic genetic genealogy and evidence gathered from the assaults to zero in on Mercado as a prime suspect.
They previously confirmed he lived in the College Park area between 2002 and 2007.