NSW police arrest alleged Sydney serial rapist using breakthrough DNA technology
Police have used cutting-edge DNA technology to arrest an alleged rapist in what is being hailed as a NSW first.
An alleged serial rapist has been arrested by NSW Police after detectives used cutting-edge DNA technology to connect him to three cold cases spread 11 years apart.
A South Kempsey man, 77, is due to face a Bail Division Court on Thursday morning, a day after he was arrested over the cold case.
NSW Police said they used forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) – which was used to capture the “Golden State Killer” Joseph James DeAngelo in the US, to make the breakthrough.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The man has been charged over three incidents dating back to 1991.
He is alleged to have sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl at Glendenning in Sydney’s west on March 16, 1991 after he offered the girl a lift.
Police will allege he drove her around, stopped the car and sexually assaulted her before driving her to Mount Druitt Railway Station where she was let out.
He is also alleged to have sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl on February 17, 1996 after she accepted a lift from him at about 1am in the Wollongong suburb of Kanahooka on the NSW south coast.
The girl was let out at Warrawong in Wollongong.
On December 22, 2002, he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman who accepted a lift from him in Dubbo in the NSW Central West.
It’s alleged he drove her to Devil’s Hole Reserve, where he sexually assaulted her before dropping her off at Cobbora Rd.
For decades the crimes went unsolved, but in 2022 the NSW Police sex crimes squad began a review of historical matters.
And DNA samples collected at the time linked the incidents to the same male DNA profile.
Detectives then used FIGG in an attempt to find a suspect.
FIGG uses DNA analysis to cross-check with commercial DNA databases.
“Unlike standard forensic DNA profiling, which examines 21 markers, FIGG analyses hundreds of thousands of genetic markers, enabling investigators to identify extended familial relationships, sometimes as distant as third or fourth cousins,” NSW Police said in a statement.
“Under a strict governance framework, these genetic markers are compared against two public genealogy databases – GEDmatch PRO and FamilyTreeDNA – which permit law-enforcement access to consenting profiles for use in solving serious and violent crimes.”
Police were able to match the DNA profile collected at the alleged crime scenes with a close relative.
On Thursday, police raided a South Kempsey property and the 77-year-old was charged with a long string of offences, including five counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and two counts of sexual assault – person under 16 years of age.
He was also charged with taking/detaing person with the intent to obtain an advantage, attempting to choke/strange and committing an act of indecency.
Originally published as Massive breakthrough as alleged serial rapist caught using DNA technology
