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Oct 13, 2009 11:02 am US/Central
Arrest Made In Decade-Old Cleburne Rape Case
CLEBURNE (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Police in Cleburne have arrested a 52-year-old man for a crime that happened just over 10 years ago.
On the morning of September 27, 1999, a 13-year-old girl was abducted in Cleburne while walking from her home to a school bus stop. She was then sexually assaulted and left in a rural cemetery.
Afterwards, the girl managed to walk away and find help. A woman driving in the area let the girl use a phone, and took her to the hospital to be reunited with her parents.
The investigation had slowed down over the years until a recent DNA match was made, 10 years and 10 days after the crime.
The Cleburne Police Department arrested Dennis Ray Griffith at his home in Morgan, Texas on Tuesday morning. Griffith has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, and is being held at the Johnson County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
According to police, Griffith was arrested without incident and did not even question why he was being taken into custody.
Police chief T.D. Powell was supervisor over the Criminal Investigations Division at the time of the crime 10 years ago. In a press release, he said, "Not a week has gone by that my team of detectives and I have not thought of the victim and this crime. We were always confident that it would clear at some point. I very much look forward to seeing Mr. Griffith at trial."
Powell said that Griffith has previously spent three years and eight months in a federal prison for an unrelated drug case.
CBS 11 News spoke with Tara Brown, a longtime friend of the victim. She was 10 years old and eating breakfast inside her home when the attack happened.
Brown said that, for the last 10 years, she has always had to watch her back. "I always wondered if he was still around or if he would come back," she said, adding that her family became more protective after the attack and would not let her go places alone.
CBS 11 News also spoke with the victim's father on Tuesday. "It felt good to hear the news," he said. "It was kind of like something sitting on your shoulders for years and years, and finally it's lifted off. We are thrilled he's off the streets and no one else will be hurt."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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