TEN YEARS LATER
CLEBURNE - Ten years after a 13-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped while walking to her bus stop in Cleburne, DNA has linked a suspect to the case, police said.
Investigators say DNA evidence trace has matched Dennis Ray Griffith to the crime that's haunted the victim and her for the past decade.
Griffith was arrested early Tuesday morning in Morgan, Texas and is being held at the Johnson County Jail. Police said Griffith works in Morgan as a newspaper delivery man and has been living with a 17-year-old girl.
For 10 years, investigators' main evidence in the case was a black and white sketch of a man with a mustache and beard. It was created from the memory of a scared 13-year-old girl.
"It was a devastating thing that happened to a 13-year-old child, just absolutely devastating," said Sgt. Amy Knoll, a spokesman for the Cleburne Police Department.
Police said Griffith kidnapped and raped the child in a rural cemetery outside Cleburne. Sgt. Knoll has worked the case since day one.
"We were impressed with the victim," he said. "On the beginning of this she was strong. He left her on the side of the road and she began to find help."
Investigators said Griffith was living in Morgan at the time of the incident, but don't know why he was in Cleburne that day.
Griffith's DNA was entered into a database in 2004 while he was on parole for federal drug conviction. On the 10th anniversary of the crime, which was September 27, 2009, investigators ran the DNA again. Last Friday, they got a match.
The Johnson County Children's Advocacy Center helps young sexual assault victims. They say Griffith's arrest will bring this victim some peace.
"I think it's huge," said Tammy King, executive director of Johnson County's Children's Advocacy Center. "For her to know that's done, that she can close the chapter of that book, and for our community to know there will finally be justice served."
The victim is now 23 years old and no longer lives in Cleburne. The police chief called to tell her of the arrest and he said she was excited to hear the news.
The victim doesn't want to come forward at this time.
