Suspected Rapist Behind Bars – Thanks to DNA Legislation Championed by Reginald Meeks

DNA links him to crime 9 years later

(WHAS11) -In February 2000, a man broke into a U of L student’s home, tied her up, and raped her multiple times.

You could really see the impact of this case on police officers and the lawmakers who worked on the new law during a press conference on Tuesday.

This is a case that has been on the minds of officers in this department for the past nine years, and now it’s finally been solved.

The lead Detective, Sgt. Greg Burnette, worked tirelessly on the case but never found a suspect.

“This was one of those cases that you really don’t forget about,” says Burnette. “It was such a brutal type of sexual assault.  Not just myself, but everyone in the unit really tried to do everything we could to solve it—exhausted every lead that we could.”

The case remained cold for nine years, but it inspired State Representative Reginald Meeks to write a bill. That bill became law last summer, requiring all felons in Kentucky to submit to DNA testing.

The tests went into a database, along with DNA evidence from crime scenes.

A few months later, police found a match between that 9-year-old cold case and 46-year-old Robert Sawyers, who was convicted with a felony for not paying child support.

“You cannot imagine the satisfaction of knowing that a piece of work that you’ve been involved in for a number of years truly paid off in a significant way,” says Meeks.

This piece of work will likely help police solve similar cases, something Denise Vazquez-Troutman, CEO of the Center for Women and Families, says she’s been hoping for.

“Any time that a perpetrator can be taken off the street, or we know for sure that he will not commit a crime, is a good day…especially when it comes to sexual assault in this city,” says Vazquez-Troutman.

Police tell us that the survivor has been contacted and has agreed to help the prosecution.

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