LAPD Links Suspect in Recent Child Abuse Case to 1997 Unsolved Rape via DNA
The Los Angeles Police Department has linked Wilfredo Romeo Perez, a man currently facing charges for the continuous sexual abuse of a young relative, to a decades-old unsolved rape case from 1997. According to court filings, detectives identified Perez as a suspect after uploading his DNA profile into a national database following his arrest for abusing a family member who reported the crimes last year. The genetic match connected him to evidence collected from a 14-year-old victim in Koreatown who was assaulted after accepting a ride from a stranger. The victim, now in her early 40s, recently provided further testimony to investigators. This breakthrough highlights the success of the LAPD's long-term initiative to process a massive backlog of untested rape kits, a project launched in 2011 with federal and private funding. Perez, who has pleaded not guilty to the recent child abuse charges, is now implicated in the historic sexual assault that remained unsolved for nearly thirty years until this forensic advancement.
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LAPD Links Suspect in Recent Child Abuse Case to 1997 Unsolved Rape via DNA
The Los Angeles Police Department has linked Wilfredo Romeo Perez, a man currently facing charges for the continuous sexual abuse of a young relative, to a decades-old unsolved rape case from 1997. According to court filings, detectives identified Perez as a suspect after uploading his DNA profile into a national database following his arrest for abusing a family member who reported the crimes last year. The genetic match connected him to evidence collected from a 14-year-old victim in Koreatown who was assaulted after accepting a ride from a stranger. The victim, now in her early 40s, recently provided further testimony to investigators. This breakthrough highlights the success of the LAPD's long-term initiative to process a massive backlog of untested rape kits, a project launched in 2011 with federal and private funding. Perez, who has pleaded not guilty to the recent child abuse charges, is now implicated in the historic sexual assault that remained unsolved for nearly thirty years until this forensic advancement.
latimes