Soldier drops ‘evil twin’ defense, pleads guilty to sex crimes

A man who tried to blame his twin for multiple child sex assaults pleaded guilty to those crimes and others Tuesday morning.

Aaron Lucas pleaded guilty to a total of eight felonies, including four counts of sexual assault on a child, three counts of child enticement and one count of kidnapping. He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure. In all, the sex crimes were against 10 different girls under the age of 10.

The assaults happened in the Colorado Springs area between June 2010 and October 2012. Lucas is a Fort Carson soldier and, during some of the attacks described by the prosecution, Lucas was wearing his military uniform.

Earlier this month, Lucas argued that DNA evidence linking him to the crimes actually belonged to his twin brother, Brian Lucas. The judge in the case ruled that Lucas could name his brother as a suspect in his defense.

But at Tuesday’s hearing, there was no mention of the “evil twin” defense as Lucas pleaded guilty to each count. His defense attorney said that Lucas never wanted to implicate his brother and that the evil twin claim was decided by his legal counsel. He said that Lucas decided he would take responsibility for the crimes.

Lucas faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2014. The judge will hear from victims’ families before the sentencing ruling.

Lucas has an outstanding warrant out of Texas. Extradition to Texas will be discussed at his sentencing hearing.