A suspected serial rapist made his first appearance in court this afternoon. Ron Young walked into the courtroom, shackled and in his jail uniform. The 23-year-old is charged with raping and kidnapping two women in Savannah last summer.
He is also charged with raping a Richmond Hill woman in September. And police believe he is connected to several other rapes in the area.
Judge Tammy stokes denied him bond. Young requested a court-appointed attorney. His next court date is July 21. Until that next court date, Young will be in the Chatham County jail.
Since he's been locked up, Young is known as inmate P0405079. But his neighbors and former classmates know him as just a regular guy, and charges that he is the serial rapist came as a complete surprise.
"I just found out on TV, it's still hard to believe, he doesn't seem like the type of person to do something like that," said Ronald Brisbane, who's known Young for six years.
They went to high school together. "He went to school, played football, he came a long way," Brisbane told us.
Young graduated from Savannah High School in 2000 and was a star football player. He was the team's starting fullback.
Now he's known simply as the suspected serial rapist.
Donneill Diggs lived next door to Young. "You never know who you are dealing with," he said.
Diggs says he never would have guessed Young was a wanted man, even though Young drove a white Dodge Intrepid, just like the car police put a lookout for last summer.
"I remember when the car was white and he bought paint for the car and he said he had to paint it, because we were disagreeing over the color of the car," Diggs said.
When Port Wentworth police arrested Young on Wednesday last week, he was driving a blue Intrepid.
While some neighbors are in shock about the charges, others are relieved. None of them knew the man police say is a serial rapist was right under their noses.
We spoke with Young's aunt briefly today. She believes he is not the serial rapist and is standing by her nephew.
With all the media coverage and nature of the crimes, Young is in protective custody, separated from the other inmates.
Reported by: Michelle Paynter, mpaynter@wtoc.com
Young enters court today.
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