Arrest made in decades-old sexual assault case using DNA evidence, Maine police say
A man in Maine has been arrested in a sexual assault from 26 years ago, in part due to advances in DNA technology, police said.
In August 1996 a 21-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her apartment in Hancock, a sparsely populated coastal town, according to a Nov. 9 press release from the Maine State Police.
DNA from an unknown male was later collected at the scene, according to police.
At the time, not everyone in the criminal justice community had a concrete understanding of DNA evidence, according to the New York Times. The FBI gained authorization to create and maintain a national DNA database in 1994, but it wasn’t until 1998 when the federal agency “launched the National DNA Index System (NDIS),” according to the Congressional Research Service.
Since then there have been advancements in genetic genealogy and DNA technology, allowing investigators to develop new leads, according to the news release.
DNA profiling is now the “gold standard in forensic science,” according to Chemical and Engineering News. “[T]he technique has gotten progressively faster and more sensitive: Today, investigators can retrieve DNA profiles from skin cells left behind when a criminal merely touches a surface.”
In this 26-year-old cold case, the unknown male DNA sample was eventually tested by a forensic genealogy company, and the results, in addition to other investigative work, led police to identify and arrest Jason Follette, a 56-year-old man from Gouldsboro, a town close to Hancock.
Follette was taken into custody at a pier in Gouldsboro on Wednesday, Nov. 9, and brought to the Hancock County Jail, police said. He’s been charged with one count of gross sexual assault and could face additional charges, according to the news release.
An attorney for Follette could not be reached by McClatchy News.
The woman he is accused of sexually assaulting is now 47 years old.
Many cold cases have been solved in recent years due to DNA testing, including a 1956 double homicide and 1964 homicide.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Arrest made in decades-old sexual assault case using DNA evidence, Maine police say."