DNA links inmate to 1998 rape

Hector Gutierrez And Marilyn Robinson, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 9, 2005 at midnight

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A man serving time in prison was charged Thursday with the rape of a 13-year-old Denver girl seven years ago.

The Denver district attorney said DNA evidence submitted by Federico E. Candelaria, now 25, tied him to the girl's rape. Prosecutors charged Candelaria with first-degree sexual assault and second-degree burglary. Candelaria was charged as an adult even though he was 17 when he allegedly raped the girl.

Candelaria is scheduled to be advised of the charges Jan. 6 in Denver district court. He is behind bars at the Fremont Correctional Facility, where he is serving five years for assault and an 18-month sentence for vandalism.

"This is just another example that the improvement in technology can benefit the victims of crime who at one point had given up hope, but who would learn that someone is now going to have to face the justice system," said Detective Virginia Lopez, police spokeswoman.

While in prison, Candelaria was required to submit a DNA sample that was entered into the FBI's DNA database, the Combined DNA Indexing System, according to the district attorney's office.

The case of the teen's February 1998 rape recently was reviewed as part of the DNA Cold Case Project put together by the Denver Police Department and prosecutors, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the district attorney.

The DNA section of the police department's crime lab received notice last month that the DNA collected at the rape scene allegedly matched Candelaria's sample he submitted in prison, Kimbrough said.

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