UPDATE: The plea deal falls through.

MANASSAS, Va. (AP) -- A plea deal for a Connecticut man accused of a series of rapes along the East Coast has fallen through after the defendant told a judge he wasn't sure he knew what he was doing.

A plea hearing had been scheduled in Prince William County on Tuesday for Aaron Thomas, who is charged with abducting three teenage trick-or-treaters in 2009 and raping two of them.

But the deal was called off when Thomas, of New Haven, Conn., revealed hesitation.

The assaults were the last of 17 that authorities attributed to Thomas, who was linked through DNA and other evidence to assaults and rapes on women as far back as 1997.

Thomas was arrested in March 2011. His lawyers had pursued an insanity defense before dropping those plans.

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A man originally from Clarke County is expected to plead guilty for the first time in connection to a series of rapes and assaults of women along the East Coast.

Aaron Thomas grew up in Berryville before making his way to Connecticut.

He will appear in court in Prince William County, Virginia Tuesday morning. He is charged with abducting three teenage trick-or-treaters in 2009 and raping two of them.

Those assaults were the last of 17 that authorities attributed to the East Coast Rapist, who was linked through DNA and other evidence to 17 assaults and rapes on women as far back as 1997.

Thomas was arrested in March 2011. His lawyers had been pursuing an insanity defense before dropping those plans and scheduling Tuesday's plea hearing.

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