Serial rapist acts as his own attorney

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ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Florida prosecutors, attempting to keep a serial rapist from going free, have asked a court in Orlando to civilly commit the man.

Tommie Lee Andrews has served a fraction of his 62-year sentence for two rape convictions and will complete his jail time on Oct. 31, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.

Andrews is acting as his own attorney at a civil commitment trial that will determine whether he should be set free or sent to a treatment center for sex offenders.

A seven-member jury of five women and two men heard testimony Tuesday from a 1987 attack victim.

The woman, who was 27 at the time, spent an hour telling the jury how Andrews broke into her home, threatened to kill her and then raped her several times while her young children slept in a nearby room.

The witness broke down in tears when she said she didn't know while she was being raped whether her children were sleeping or had been harmed.