News
Displaying News and Event Items: 11 - 20 of 901.
Texas Rangers and Mineral Wells Police Department Announce Arrest in Cold Case Sexual Assault
— gilmermirror.com, Aug 20, 2025
"The Texas Department of Public Safety, Ranger Division, working in conjunction with the Mineral Wells Police Department, has arrested William Henry Lowery (W/M, 60 YOA, photograph included at left) for an Aggravated Sexual Assault that occurred on December 10th, 2016.
In 2023, this case was adopted by the Texas Ranger Sexual Assault Kit Initiative program (SAKI) under a grant from the United States Department of Justice. This grant provides funds for advanced DNA testing, including genealogy. Evidence was sent to BODE technology for SNP testing and genealogy research. Through this testing, a possible suspect was identified."
Man Accused of Faking His Death to Avoid Charges Found Guilty of Sexual Assault
— Rudy Blalock, ntd.com, Aug 14, 2025
"A Rhode Island man who authorities say staged his own death to avoid sexual assault charges was convicted Wednesday evening of raping a former girlfriend in 2008, marking the first conviction in a series of criminal cases spanning multiple states.
Nicholas Rossi, 38, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, was found guilty by an eight-person Salt Lake County jury following three days of testimony. He chose not to take the witness stand during proceedings and will face sentencing Oct. 20.
Utah authorities launched their investigation into Rossi in 2018 after DNA evidence from a decade-old rape kit identified him as a suspect. The breakthrough in the case came as part of Utah's statewide initiative to process thousands of backlogged sexual assault evidence kits, which resulted in charges against numerous previously unidentified suspects."
Man arrested in connection with 2009 kidnapping, sexual assault of a child in Peoria
— Kyra O’Connor, MSN.com, Aug 8, 2025
"Valley police have made an arrest in a nearly twenty-year-old case.
In collaboration with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, the Peoria Police Department arrested 43-year-old Stephen Lipton in connection with a 2009 kidnapping and sexual assault of a child, a news release states.
The case went cold until DNA that was obtained from the crime was sent for further testing using grant money from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Peoria police said. "
Phoenix police use DNA to arrest suspect in decades-old rape and kidnapping cases
— Stephanie Murray, Arizona Republic, Aug 8, 2025
"Phoenix police used a national DNA database to arrest a man linked to multiple kidnapping and sexual assault cases dating back 27 years.
Abraham Ramirez, 54, was recently arrested in connection with four sexual assault and kidnapping cases that occurred in the Phoenix area from 1998 to 2013, police said.
The cold cases went unsolved for years.
“This arrest demonstrates the excellent work of our combined investigative and forensic teams and their unwavering commitment to those who experience sexual assault trauma,” according to Donna Rossi, communications director for the Phoenix Police Department, in a news release."
Albuquerque man convicted of 1991 rape decades later
— Alika Medina, KOB, Aug 1, 2025
"An Albuquerque man was found guilty 34 years after he raped a woman.
In 1991, Rascon and a group of masked men broke into a woman’s home and demanded drugs and money. When they did not find anything, they left, but later came back.
“All of the men who broke into the victim’s home were wearing masks. They broke in, they had guns, and they were demanding to find drugs and money, and forcing her to search when they never found either. They left. Two of the men came back and sexually assaulted her while a third man stood there with a gun, and then they continued to threaten her before they finally left the home,” said Andrew McCants, the assistant district attorney for Bernalillo County.
The district attorney’s office says, with the help of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit, also known as SAKI, they were able to connect Rascon’s DNA to the case. This was one of 5,400 rape kits that were part of a backlog."
Former Western Michigan University exchange student charged in sex assault
— Aya Fayad, The Detroit News, Aug 1, 2025
"A former Western Michigan University exchange student has been charged in connection with sexual assaults more than a decade ago, the Michigan Attorney General's Office announced Thursday.
Al Allan De Los Santos Mueses, 40, from the Dominican Republic, was arraigned July 28 in Kalamazoo's 8th District Court on four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, officials said.
He was arrested on July 11 before being extradited to Michigan from Miami. The effort has led to charges against others accused of sexual assault.
“I remain grateful to our state’s devoted SAKI units and their efforts to bring about justice for victims of sexual assaults perpetrated years ago,” Nessel said in a statement. “Their commitment ensures that survivors have the opportunity to see their cases fully investigated and that perpetrators are held accountable.” "
Canadian man sentenced in Old Bridge woman's 1997 strangling in Bridgewater
— Mike Deak, MyCentralJersey.com, Jul 28, 2025
"A Canadian man has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for killing a woman in Bridgewater almost 28 years ago, one of Somerset County's oldest cold cases.
In January 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit met with detectives from the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit as part of their Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant to discuss the ongoing investigation.
As a result, detectives determined that evidence collected in the investigation could be resubmitted for DNA testing, which may not have been possible in previous years."
SAKI Division Secures Conviction in Violent Home Invasion and Sexual Assault Case
— orleansda.com, Jul 10, 2025
"District Attorney Jason Williams and members of his Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit (SAKI) are pleased to announce that a conviction was secured in the case of State v. Ericson Gonzalez. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to Second Degree Rape, Aggravated Burglary, three counts of Second Degree Kidnapping, three counts of Armed Robbery, Aggravated Battery, Home Invasion, and Possession of Stolen Property.
In early 2022, Gonzalez terrorized the Vietnamese community in New Orleans East, including two incidents charged in this case, in a series of home burglaries, during which the defendant was armed with a gun. The home invasion case included the sexual assault of a victim in her 70s and the beating of an additional victim in his 70s. DNA evidence collected in that case was linked to Gonzalez."
