A Dorchester man was held on $1 million dollars cash bail today following his indictment for two previously-unsolved rapes in the fall of 2004, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of Conley’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, recommended that amount at the arraignment of ANWAR THOMAS (D.O.B. 5/9/82) in Suffolk Superior Court this morning, citing “extraordinarily strong” evidence of his guilt and the incentive it provides him to flee the charges.

The Suffolk County Grand Jury on March 9 returned an 18-count indictment charging Thomas with eight counts of aggravated rape; two counts each of aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and indecent assault and battery; and single counts of assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon.

“The crimes at issue here shock the conscience,” Conley said. “They are terrifying. In years past, they might never have been solved, but technology and a team of driven investigators has given us the opportunity to see justice done.”

The charges reflect Thomas’ alleged role as a principal in the attacks, as well as his alleged aiding and abetting of a second rapist during those attacks. The identity of that second assailant is the subject of an “extremely active” investigation, Conley said.

In court today, Deakin told Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson that “the defendant participated as one of two perpetrators in two armed abductions and rapes perpetrated on two separate women on Sept. 21, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2004.”

Deakin told the court that the first victim, then 23, was walking along Washington Street near Arboretum Road saw two men standing near a car at about 9:45 p.m. When she walked past the men, they grabbed her, threatened to kill her if she didn’t get in the car, and forced her inside. One man – later identified through DNA as the defendant – got in the driver’s seat and beat her with a pistol when she pleaded to be released.

After a short drive, Deakin said, the men took the victim from the car and forced her at gunpoint into a shed behind a house, where the defendant raped her. The defendant, followed by the second assailant, then led the victim into a garage where the defendant assaulted her and both men raped her.

Later, the men went through her purse and stole several items before driving her to an area near Franklin Park. The victim was able to flag down a car for a ride home and was later admitted to Faulkner Hospital, where Boston Police were notified.

Boston Police detectives seized biological evidence that was later uploaded to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a database of DNA samples from known offenders and unknown suspects. Evidence from unsolved sexual assaults is routinely uploaded to CODIS, as are samples from convicts. In Massachusetts, anyone convicted of a felony must provide a DNA sample for submission to CODIS.

Nine days after the Washington Street attack, Deakin said, a second woman, then 19, was walking on Parker Street near Hillside Street at about 11:20 p.m. when she saw a man later identified as the defendant standing by the trunk of a car. He ran up and grabbed her.

“Shut up,” he said. “Don’t scream. I’ll kill you.”

The man pushed her into the car’s back seat, got on top of her, and put a bag over her head. When she asked why he was doing this, he allegedly struck her four times with what she believed to be a firearm.

Another man – whose description was similar to the other victim’s description of her second assailant – drove them for about five minutes before taking her from the car. The men marched her up a hill, where she tried to run away. The man later identified as the defendant punched her in the stomach and took the bag from her head. She found herself in a clearing in a wooded area. Both men raped her repeatedly. One of them – the second assailant – used a condom, which he later discarded.

“Showing astonishing presence of mind,” Deakin said, “she wrapped it in her bra as she gathered up her clothing.”

The defendant went through her wallet, taking an identification card and a small amount of cash. He then left the area while the second assailant told her to count to 120 before leaving. That man then left the scene also. The victim later made her way to a stranger’s home on Walnut Avenue and ultimately to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where Boston Police responded. As before, biological evidence from the case was secured and uploaded to CODIS.

“Because Boston Police maintained that evidence under laboratory conditions, it was suitable for later comparison,” Conley said.

The investigation continued for years before Thomas’ identification. As a result of his 2009 conviction on a felony charge in Middlesex County, he was forced to provide a DNA sample. In July 2010, that sample was matched to a DNA profile recovered from a bitemark on the Sept. 21 victim’s chest and a DNA profile recovered from a stain on the Sept. 29 victim’s jacket.

Thomas was represented today by attorney Josh Hanye. He will return to court on April 21.