FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Channel 2 Action News exclusive: A man already convicted of one rape in California failed to show up for the conclusion of his rape trial here, and a prosecutor says he’s now a fugitive.
Channel 2 was able to find the documents showing the offender who authorities are looking for.
Channel 2’s Investigative Reporter Mark Winne reports that Gary Diggs, even with his previous rape conviction, was given a bond.
The man has now been convicted of rape.
“Facing sentence and he is in the wind,” Fulton County DA Fani Willis said.
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Diggs is a repeat offender rapist on the run who was already convicted of rape in 1995 in Los Angeles County, California, and was indicted for a 2017 rape in Fairburn and other crimes.
He was released on a $100,000 bond years ago and recently represented himself at trial in a Fulton County courtroom.
And when the prosecution was nearing the end of its case and things weren’t looking good for him, he failed to show up in court the next day and became a fugitive, all according to Fulton County Senior Assistant District Attorney Stacey Burke.
Burke said it’s something they’re taking incredibly seriously.
She said she took over the case in 2025 and handled his trial along with Deputy DA Siri Patel.
“This was a 19-year-old girl who had hopes and dreams of coming to Atlanta for a better life. She was living on her sister’s couch,” Patel said.
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Burke says Diggs was still convicted in absentia of rape, false imprisonment, aggravated battery and a state sexual offender registry violation.
And Senior Judge David Emerson sentenced him as a recidivist to life without parole plus 60 years.
“I’ve already contacted the sheriff of Fulton County to ask that he has made a priority and he’s brought in for justice. But he’s dangerous,” Willis said.
Burke says Diggs and his victim met on a website called Plenty of Fish where his profile used someone else’s picture.
Diggs was 52 and his victim was 19 and living in Louisiana.
He wowed her with false claims of affluence, like owning two mansions in Atlanta
“They were never his, and they were not mansions,” Burke said.
Burke says he took the victim to Georgia.
His victim eventually caught on he had misled her. She tried to leave, and he attacked her
“The verbal altercation became physical and he strangled her, there are markings around her neck,” Burke said.
He pushed her down a flight of stairs. He had a kitchen knife.
“She unfortunately had to spend the night after being raped by him,” Patel said.
Channel 2’s investigation into Diggs ourselves found a Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, clerk of court docket and with an offense date of November 7, 2022. It reads, “indecent behavior with a juvenile.” Under disposition, it says “plead guilty.”
Patel says in his recent trial here, Diggs’ behavior representing himself was so outrageous, Judge Emerson sentenced him for contempt to 20 days to be served after the trial.
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