A serial rapist who terrorized women in Beaumont, Texas, for six years is behind bars after DNA evidence linked him to four violent attacks.
Eric J. Gipson Sr., 40, was arrested on August 21 following a joint investigation by Texas Rangers and Beaumont police.
The arrest brings closure to victims whose cases had gone cold, some dating back to 2018. It also highlights how modern DNA technology can crack years-old cases when law enforcement agencies work together.
The investigation began after a brutal September 2024 attack near a Beaumont gas station. Gipson allegedly approached a woman from behind and forced her behind a nearby church, where he held a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her.
DNA from that attack was entered into CODIS, the national database that links crime scene evidence. In January 2025, the state crime lab in Houston found matches to three unsolved sexual assaults from 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The pattern suggested a serial predator was operating in Jefferson County. Rangers and Beaumont detectives reviewed all four cases and identified Gipson as their suspect.
On May 8, investigators collected a DNA sample from Gipson through Texas’ Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The program uses federal funding to solve cold cases and bring justice to victims.
The Houston lab confirmed the match. A Jefferson County grand jury indicted Gipson on August 20 on two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault.
Rangers and Beaumont officers arrested him outside his workplace the following day. Investigators believe there may be additional victims and are asking anyone with information to contact Beaumont police at 409-832-1234.