SHARPES, Fla. – A convicted sexual predator accused of raping a woman at a park in Satellite Beach has been booked into the Brevard County Jail after his arrest in Polk County.
Harry Page, 36, was booked early Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, sexual battery with a weapon or force, burglary with assault or battery, aggravated battery causing bodily harm, robbery with no firearm or weapon and false imprisonment.
Page is being held without bond. He appeared before a judge Wednesday.
Satellite Beach police said a woman was reading a book in her car at Hightower Beach Park in mid-February when Page attacked, beat and raped her.
Police said Page pulled the woman from the car, pinned her to the ground and hit her several times in the face and head. The woman said he also threatened her life multiple times, according to police. She tried to fight him off and bit his tongue in the process, police said.
Page took off, but left behind a towel. The woman gave it to police. Investigators said material on it matched Page's DNA, on file from an attack 16 years ago.
"This is a case where the hand of science has come to the trembling hand of the victim," Assistant State Attorney Gary Beatty told News 6 Wednesday. "This was just more evidence of why DNA works so well."
Police said the woman's doors were locked, but because her windows were down, Page was able to reach in and unlock the doors.
The woman suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, police said. They said she was relieved
when she learned of Page's arrest Friday in Polk County.
Satellite Beach police Chief Jeff Pearson called Page "violent and disturbed" during a news conference, saying that the registered sexual predator has an extensive criminal background.
According to court records from Pasco County dating back to 2000, Page was convicted of kidnapping and sexual battery with a weapon.
Records show that he grabbed a woman who was training for the Disney Marathon while she was jogging early in the morning in 2001. He pulled her into the woods, where he raped, beat and threatened to cut her with a knife, officials said.
Page was convicted of the attack in 2002 and served 13 years in prison. He was released in July 2015.
"Based on his prior record, if convicted he faces a mandatory life sentence," said Beatty.
Page's next court date will be his arraignment, scheduled for April 11.