On Friday a registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal history in Chattanooga was charged with aggravated rape for the fifth time.
Willie James Bradley, 55, also was charge with especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault. Those charges, too, are more than familiar to Bradley, according to court records.
Willie James BradleyThe alleged victim told police she was walking home Aug. 3 when a man grabbed her by the arms and pushed something into her back that she assumed was a weapon.
According to the police affidavit, the man said he "would stab her like the last white girl that said no," and then forced her into a vacant house in the 1100 block of Gillespie Road.
The woman said he held her against her will from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. and forced her to perform a sex act on him multiple times. She said he repeatedly threatened he would kill her if she tried to fight or get away.
The woman was shown a photo lineup that included Bradley and she said she was "100 percent sure" he was the rapist, according to the affidavit.
Bradley told police he was inside the vacant house at the time but did not rape the woman. A probation officer confirmed that Bradley's ankle monitor showed he was in the immediate area of the vacant house at the time of the rape.
Bradley is in the Hamilton County Jail on a $1.1 million bond.
His record of violent charges dates back more than 20 years. In 1995 he was charged with attempted first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless endangerment and was placed on unsupervised probation for two years.
Three years later he faced two charges of aggravated rape. He pleaded guilty to two lesser charges of attempted aggravated sexual battery and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
After his release, Bradley racked up a series of charges including aggravated burglary and kidnapping, both of which were dismissed, but he was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in the county workhouse for a theft charge.
In 2008, Bradley was charged with aggravated rape again, as well as aggravated kidnapping. Again he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault. His kidnapping charge was dismissed and he was sentenced to four years.
Six years later, in June 2014, came his third charge of aggravated rape, along with aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. In that case, the Times Free Press reported testimony from an officer who said in a hearing the crime scene was gruesome.
"It was awful - blood spray everywhere. It was terrible," Officer Andrew Peker said.
Peker investigated when a 24-year-old Chattanooga woman said Bradley, then 53, beat and raped her in a house in the 2000 block of Milne Street overnight on June 24, 2014.
The woman said she and a friend, Wesley Campbell, were driving around looking for crack cocaine when they stopped at a Kanku's gas station on the 3400 block of Wilcox Boulevard sometime after 10 p.m.
They picked up Bradley, who said he could help them find more crack. The trio went to a drug dealer, bought and smoked more crack and then drove around some more until the woman needed to use the bathroom.
Bradley said he had a sister who lived nearby, and he walked the woman to the vacant house, where she said he began to beat her and forced her into sex, beating her when she resisted.
"The more I said no the more he beat me," the victim told prosecutor Lance Pope.
Peker testified that Bradley told him four people smoked crack in the house that night. He explained the blood by saying he had fought with Campbell and the other man until they left.
He said he was alone with the victim, but denied raping her.
Then in March 2015 came new charges of aggravated rape, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and possession of a firearm while committing a felony, for offenses allegedly committed on Sept. 29, 2013.
The rape, kidnapping and firearm charges in that case were dismissed in General Sessions Court but he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the 2013 and 2014 cases last August and was sentenced to two years and three years, respectively.
That same year, Bradley was also charged on one count of vandalism or malicious mischief, two counts of assault and one count of retaliation against a judge, juror or officer.
All of those charges were dismissed except for one of the counts of assault for which he received 11 months and 29 days in the workhouse.
Bradley's next court appearance for his most recent rape, assault and kidnapping charges is scheduled for Aug. 23 before General Sessions Judge Christine Sell.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow on Twitter @emmettgienapp.