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Dorrell Shaw, 26, of the 5200 block of Marlowe Street, was in jail when the first attack happened, on June 11. However, he was free when the remaining five assaults occurred, after Aug. 12.
It's possible, police said, that Shaw - who is not charged with any of the assaults and whose criminal history does not include sex offenses - is not the assailant in any of the attacks. Another possibility is that the assaults were committed by more than one man.
Police said Shaw, accompanied by an attorney, turned himself in shortly after noon but declined to answer questions from sex-crimes investigators. He was then transferred to a holding facility on the parole violation.
Police, meanwhile, continued warning women in Frankford to take safety precautions, leaving residents on edge.
"We never ruled out that there could be more than one person responsible," said Lt. Thomas McDevitt of the Special Victims Unit, who cautioned that processing evidence in sexual assault cases takes time and that is not yet complete for this investigation.
And, police said, Shaw is a "person of interest" only in the Aug. 16 sexual assault of a woman inside her home on Dyre Street. The assailant entered through a first-floor window, raped her at gunpoint while her children were sleeping in the next room, and made off with her her cell phone and identification.
Capt. Michael McCarrick told neighbors at a community meeting in Frankford yesterday that police would not "rest" with Shaw in custody.
"We're going to continue our vigilant efforts out here," said McCarrick, who was accompanied by State Rep. Tony J. Payton Jr. "You're going to continue seeing increased uniform patrol as well as the mini stations out along Frankford Avenue."
Payton said he is organizing an escort service for women, and McCarrick encouraged women to avoid going out alone.
Police first advised the public of sexual assaults in Frankford on Friday after similarities emerged in three cases. They released a sketch based on the descriptions of victims, but stopped short of saying a serial rapist was at work.
Shaw's name surfaced privately among detectives during the weekend because he was wanted on a parole violation and he matched some of the descriptions provided by victims. But authorities were concerned about discrepancies.
Concern grew after another assault on Saturday and then two assaults within hours of each other early Monday morning. In an unusual move, police publicly released Shaw's name and his picture as "a person of interest" even though he had not been charged.
Court records show that Shaw, a father of three, has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for burglary, theft and assault. He has been charged with drug possession and robbery but was not convicted. None of his arrests are for sexual offenses.
He has also been in and out of prison and treatment facilities since his conviction for several South Philadelphia burglaries, one in which he assaulted a homeowner who surprised him.
Court records state that Shaw punched the homeowner, breaking his nose and jaw, before fleeing. In 2001, he was sentenced to serve a maximum of eight years for that assault. While in prison, Shaw was written up for nine prison misconducts. He has since been paroled.
His most recent arrest was for a burglary in the city in April while he was on parole. Although the charge was dismissed because the victim failed to appear for a preliminary hearing, Shaw remained in prison until June 24. He then returned to a supervised treatment program in Philadelphia as a parole condition.
On July 12, "he did a walkaway," said Leo Dunn, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. The state issued a warrant for his arrest, which is why authorities can keep him in custody at this time.
Authorities said they have DNA evidence and fingerprints collected after the sexual assaults were reported, but did not provide specifics of the evidence. They will compare DNA from the assaults with Shaw's DNA.
In Frankford, where Shaw was living with his girlfriend until Sunday, neighbors said they remained concerned.
"What if he's not the one?" mused Connie Cook, 42, as she stood in her driveway on Dyre Street where one of the attacks took place.
She, like others in the area, said she planned to leave the blue-collar neighborhood where the Frankford El rumbles overhead.
Anthony Murphy of Town Watch Integrated Services said he hoped neighbors would watch out for one another.
"This is a heinous crime," Murphy said. "But we can't allow them to control us. We have to dictate the direction."
Throughout the afternoon, residents who had vowed street justice, spread the word that Shaw had been apprehended, but realized he may not be the assailant.
Stacie Gaskin, 33, standing outside her house at Dyre and Duffield Streets, said the situation has been scary.
"I hope this will make the community aware," Gaskin said. "The men in our community should step up and do a better job at protecting us."
Inquirer staff writers Kia Gregory, Robert Moran and Dwight Ott contributed to this article.
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