Police: DNA solves '01 rape

~ A law that went into effect last year requires samples from all felons in Missouri prisons.

A 2001 Cape Girardeau rape was purportedly solved when DNA evidence matched that of a Missouri prison inmate, officials said.

Ontario R. Reed, 23, formerly of the Malden, Mo., area, was charged Thursday with felony forcible sodomy and forcible rape. Bond was set at $500,000 cash only.

On Aug. 6, 2001, an unidentified man forced his way into a woman's apartment in the 600 block of Sycamore Circle, where he raped and sodomized her, according to a probable-cause statement filed by the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Nearly five years later on July 27, the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab reported to the Cape Girardeau Police Department that a DNA sample taken from the rape scene had been matched to Reed.

Reed, currently serving a 10-year sentence at the Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Mo., for an unrelated robbery conviction, submitted a second sample to Cape Girardeau police for confirmation, which also matched.

The DNA from the scene would match only one in 211.1 quadrillion black people and one in 6.4 quintillion whites, according to the probable-cause statement.

In 2004, a state law was passed that required all felons incarcerated in Missouri to submit a DNA sample to the highway patrol. The samples are then cross-checked against DNA evidence left at the scene of unsolved crimes. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2005.

State Sen. Jason Crowell, who was the majority floor leader in the state House of Representatives at the time and helped push for the bill's passing, said the charges against Reed demonstrate the combined efforts of the legislature and law enforcement.

"This is a concrete example of the good that can happen when we work together," he said.

This was the first case in Cape Girardeau County that used the new law to charge someone not previously suspected in the crime, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said.

"This is a cold case that never would have been solved short of this guy getting a guilty conscience and confessing," he said.

Swingle called the law a harbinger of things to come for incarcerated felons, adding their DNA would "rat them out" on unsolved crimes.

Beside helping in prosecution, DNA technology has also paved the way for exonerating previously convicted people of a crime, according to Crowell.

"It really is about making sure the guilty are jailed and the innocent go free," he said.

Reed was scheduled to be transported from Jefferson City to Cape Girardeau County for an initial appearance Sept. 25 before Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp.

If convicted, Reed could face up to a life sentence, which Swingle said he would pursue.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127