Reuters

Aaron Thomas, 41, known as the "East Coast Rapist."

The man referred to as the "East Coast Rapist" -- tied to a string of attacks along the Eastern Seaboard -- was indicted Tuesday in the county where he has said his reign of terror began.

Aaron Thomas, 41, was indicted by prosecutors in Prince George's County, Md., on six counts of first-degree rape and related charges, reported NBCWashington.com. He is accused of raping and kidnapping six women in the county between 1997 and 2001 and faces a total of 54 charges there, including first-degree sex-offense, kidnapping, theft, and false imprisonment, NBCWashington.com said.

Thomas is already behind bars in Virginia, serving five life sentences plus 80 years for a 2001 rape and abduction in Leesburg, Va., and a Halloween 2009 attack on three teenagers in Prince William County, Va.

"While we know that Mr. Thomas will spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes, it is important that we prosecute him for the attacks he committed in our county, so these six victims can receive justice and closure from this terrible incident in their lives," said Prince George's County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks in a statement on Tuesday.

Thomas is linked by DNA evidence to more than a dozen sexual assaults dating back to 1997 from the Washington area to Connecticut.

Thomas told The Washington Post that his first rape was in Prince George’s County, and described several assaults that predate the ones known to authorities by several years.

The earliest attack for which he has been charged is a February 1997 assault in Prince George's County, in which a woman was confronted by an assailant on a 10-speed bike, according to The Post. 

He wasn't captured until March 2011 after a massive manhunt following the 2009 Halloween attack.

In a tell-all interview with the Post on Nov. 10, 2012, from his Virginia jail cell, Thomas admitted he was the man known as the "East Coast Rapist," something he has also admitted to law enforcement. 

“I need help with this problem. It’s serious,” Thomas told The Post in 2012. “I don’t think I’m crazy, but something is wrong with me.”

The man known as the East Coast Rapist has been sentenced to three terms of life in prison plus 80 years.

Aaron Thomas, of New Haven, Conn., pleaded guilty in November to two counts of rape and three counts of abduction for a Halloween 2009 attack on three teenage trick-or-treaters in Prince William County, Virginia.

Thomas forced the trick-or-treaters -- two of whom are now in college -- into the woods and raped two of them over the course of about an hour.

He had a cigarette lighter that was a replica of a gun, Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert told News4 in Washington D.C.

One of the victims was able to text her mother, who called police. Thomas fled when he heard sirens, Ebert said.

At sentencing Friday, Thomas gave a statement referring himself as "totally blameworthy." He said he knew what he did to the women, News4's Erika Gonzalez reported.

Two victims forgive him
Two of his victims testified that they forgave Thomas and prayed he would be cured of his sickness, Gonzalez reported.

But the mother of another victim said her daughter hasn't been the same since the attack.

Thomas also pleaded guilty in November to rape and abduction charges in Loudoun County for a rape in 2001 at a Leesburg apartment complex. He faces multiple life sentences that case as well.

Read more from NBCWashington.com

Thomas's behavior and mental status was an issue in court, if not an issue raised formally in the trial.

Ebert called Thomas's behavior "erratic from the start." In custody, Thomas has repeatedly cut his wrists and smeared his blood on the walls of his cell. He has claimed he had an alternate personality -- Erwin.

However, the prosecution's mental health expert had found Thomas was either "feigning or greatly exaggerating" symptoms. His attorneys had notified the court that sanity would not be raised as an issue.

Thomas has been tied to 17 attacks over longer than a decade from the D.C. area to Connecticut, including attacks in Fairfax and Prince George's counties.

The tip that led to his arrest came from Prince George's County.

In a story published in The Washington Post, Thomas acknowledged that he was the East Coast Rapist, saying, "I don't think I'm crazy but something is wrong with me."

NBCWashington.com