Texas Rangers and Beaumont Police Arrest Suspected Serial Rapist

BEAUMONT, Texas—A man suspected of sexually assaulting at least four women between 2018 and 2024 is in custody following a joint investigation by the Texas Rangers and the Beaumont Police Department.

Eric J. Gipson Sr., 40, of Beaumont, was arrested on August 21 after a Jefferson County grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault.

The investigation began after a September 26, 2024, assault in which a female victim was sexually assaulted at knifepoint behind a church. DNA evidence collected from the scene was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database.

In January 2025, the DPS Crime Laboratory notified the Texas Rangers of a DNA match to three other similar cold-case sexual assaults in the Beaumont area from 2018, 2019, and 2020. This indicated a potential serial rapist.

Investigators then identified Gipson as a suspect and collected a DNA sample from him in May. The sample was sent for testing through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program, which provides funding for unsolved sexual assault cases. The test came back as a positive match.

Investigations into additional sexual assaults by Gipson are ongoing. The Texas Rangers and Beaumont Police Department are asking anyone with information to contact the Beaumont Police Department at (409) 832-1234 or Southeast Texas Crime Stoppers at 409-833-TIPS (8477).