Genealogical DNA leads to arrest of 72-year-old man for rape of 9-year-old in 1997

Daniel J. Flannery Headshot

WEWS: A 72-year-old man was recently charged for a sexual assault that took place in Cleveland in 1997. Dan Flannery, the Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Professor and director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention, Research and Education, said genealogical DNA is a relatively new practice in law enforcement that can narrow down who the identity of a person is when their DNA doesn’t match anything in a system. “You might link a particular DNA in a sexual assault kit to a relative of an alleged offender,” he said.