Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today announced charges against a Dorchester man in connection with a pair of previously-unsolved 2004 sexual assaults.

ANWAR THOMAS (D.O.B. 5/9/82) is charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, and a series of related offenses for attacks on different women in September 2004. Boston Police yesterday lodged arrest warrants for Thomas at the Middlesex County House of Corrections, where he is serving time on an unrelated charge.

“I applaud the tenacious efforts of the detectives and prosecutors who have been relentless in their efforts to secure justice for the victims of these two horrific crimes,” Commissioner Davis said. “Regardless of the amount of time passed, investigators continued to doggedly pursue every lead.”

“This is a major development in an investigation that has continued quietly but methodically for more than six years,” District Attorney Conley said. “The detectives and prosecutors assigned to the case never gave up on it.”

At approximately 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2004, two men abducted a 23-year-old Boston woman walking on Washington Street in Forest Hills near Arboretum Road. The men forced the victim into their automobile and beat her with a handgun. They drove her to a residential neighborhood and took her into a detached storage shed in the backyard of a home. There, the two men sexually assaulted her. They then drove her to the area of Franklin Park, where they released her from the car. A passerby drove her to a safe location and, from there, she went to the Faulkner Hospital for treatment.

At approximately 11:20 to 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2004, two men matching the description of the suspects in the Sept. 21 attack abducted a 19-year-old Boston woman as she walked on Parker Street near Hillside Street. The perpetrators again forced the victim into a nearby car and drove her to a nearby wooded area near Franklin Park. She, too, was assaulted with what the victim believed was a handgun. The men took her to the secluded area and each sexually assaulted her. They then allowed her to leave the area. She made her way to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital for treatment.

Evidence collected during the investigation yielded DNA profiles of both perpetrators. In July 2010, a report from the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, indicated that a DNA profile matching Thomas’ was present in evidence collected in connection with both assaults.

Boston Police detectives and Suffolk prosecutors assigned to their agencies’ Sexual Assault Units began an investigation into Thomas’ role in the attacks. Based on evidence developed in the course of that investigation, they obtained a warrant for his arrest Friday and lodged it yesterday. His arraignment in West Roxbury District Court has not yet been scheduled.

The investigation into the assaults and the identity of the second perpetrator is ongoing. Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the Boston Police Department Sexual Assault Unit at 617-343-4300 or call the CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS. All tipsters may remain anonymous if they wish.