Convicted rapist arrested in apartment lawn rape

Thirteen days of tracking down a rape suspect, Fort Lauderdale police say, has led to a convicted rapist.

Police arrested James Hodge, 41, on Wednesday in the Oct. 5 rape of a woman on the front lawn of a Middle River Drive apartment complex. He is in Broward Main Jail on three counts of sexual battery with physical force.

Hodge lives in Fort Lauderdale, but for almost nine years, his landlord was the Florida Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to sexual battery. According to the Department of Corrections, as a 24-year-old, he committed statutory rape with a 16- or 17-year-old. Of a 12-year sentence, Hodge served eight years, nine months and a week at the South Bay Correctional Institution from 2002-2011.

This story was originally published October 19, 2017 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Convicted rapist arrested in apartment lawn rape."