TV show lauds 908th AW cop's role in securing conviction in decade old schoolgirl rape case

  • Published
  • By Jeffery Melvin
  • 908th Airlift Wing
MAXWELL AFB, Ala. --  Earlier this year the Arts & Entertainment network's TV series "Cold Case Files" acknowledged 908th Security Forces Squadron's Staff Sgt. Richard Peterson's role in assisting Rochester, N.Y., Police Department solve several nearly 10-year-old schoolgirl rape cases.
 
On Sept. 3, 2005, as chief investigator with the Clayton (Ala.) Police Department, Sergeant Peterson, a highly decorated civilian law enforcement officer now serving as a special investigator with the State of Alabama, reported to the scene of a rape where the victim was assaulted, raped and sodomized
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He diligently tracked down leads, interviewed potential witnesses and developed a suspect through the Law Enforcement network.
 
Police investigators put together a photo line up and showed it to the victim, who made a positive identification leading to the suspect's arrest. 

The sergeant interviewed the suspect and personally collected a DNA sample which was turned over to the State Forensic Science Lab. His request to compare DNA on a National level resulted in a match in the Rochester, N.Y., Schoolgirl Rapist cases. 

The unsolved cases involved the rapes of four young women ranging from ages 12 to 17, gripping the Rochester area in fear. Unable to catch the rapist and facing a statute of limitations on the cases that occurred in a short span in 1995, Rochester authorities successfully employed a then relatively new technique, a John Doe indictment, based on DNA evidence. The John Doe indictment effectively stopped the clock on the statute of limitations. 

Based on Sergeant Peterson's police work, the Rochester case now had a prime suspect who was later tried and sentenced to 85 years in prison and four women, now adults, were able to move forward with their lives. 

Sergeant Peterson's diligence nor success are surprising, said 908th SFS's Master Sgt. Tim Oliver. Peterson, the security forces air reserve technician said, has had great success in the squadron, completing his professional military education in minimal time, and advancing to fire team leader, a technical sergeant position, quickly.
 
Wing members interested in seeing the Rochester, N.Y. Schoolgirl Rape case profile should check their local listings for scheduled airings of A&E TV's Cold Case Files episode 112, "Innocence Stolen/Danger at the Door." (Information provided by Tech. Sgt. James Harrell, 908th SFS unit public affairs rep)