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Members of the Toledo Police Cold Case Sexual Assault Task Force say they could find no new evidence to solve a 2000 stranger rape until the victim offered one possibility: her son born from the rape. <\/p>\n
On Friday, a Lucas County grand jury indicted Harland Hersey, 33, of Toledo on one count of rape for an April 9, 2000, attack on a teenage girl. <\/p>\n
Hersey <\/p>\n
Enlarge <\/p>\n
Charles McDonald, an assistant county prosecutor assigned to the task force, said the indictment came after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted a reverse paternity test on the victims son a test that identified his biological father through DNA. <\/p>\n
Its a first for our unit, he said of the reverse paternity test. <\/p>\n
Due to the creative and exhaustive techniques used by the investigating officers, a DNA profile was developed sufficient to identify a suspect, Mr. McDonald said. <\/p>\n
The 16-year-old victim told police at the time that she and her younger brother had walked to the store and were returning home on Waverly Avenue near Avondale Avenue about 2 p.m. when three young men on a porch called them up and coerced them inside. <\/p>\n
Mr. McDonald said that while one of the men allegedly kept the victims brother downstairs, the other two men forced the victim upstairs where she was raped. <\/p>\n
After she and her brother were able to flee, they ran home where she called police. The young woman was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was done. <\/p>\n
Still, no suspects were ever identified or arrests made. <\/p>\n
Nothing ever came of the original investigation, Mr. McDonald said. <\/p>\n
An arrest warrant for Mr. Hersey would be issued, police said Friday. <\/p>\n
Toledo police Detective Vince Mauro, another member of the task force, said an agent from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation worked the case and ultimately got a hit from the suspects DNA on the FBIs nationwide database known as the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. <\/p>\n
For the past few years, the task force has been re-examining some 1,700 unsolved rape cases that date back two decades. <\/p>\n
Contact Jennifer Feehan at:jfeehan@theblade.comor 419-213-2134. <\/p>\n
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View post: Share Share Email Print Members of the Toledo Police Cold Case Sexual Assault Task Force say they could find no new evidence to solve a 2000 stranger rape until the victim offered one possibility: her son born from the rape. On Friday, a Lucas County grand jury indicted Harland Hersey, 33, of Toledo on one count of rape for an April 9, 2000, attack on a teenage girl. Hersey Enlarge Charles McDonald, an assistant county prosecutor assigned to the task force, said the indictment came after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted a reverse paternity test on the victims son a test that identified his biological father through DNA. Continue reading
\nDNA of rape victim's child lands suspect - The Blade - Toledo Blade<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"