Police say they’ve solved a rape case that happened 31 years ago in Mongtomery County thanks to new DNA evidence from a California crime.
Xavier Battice, 62, now faces two counts of rape and an additional count of sex assault after allegedly attacking a woman with a diminished mental capacity on Sept. 24, 1992.
The victim was 38 and on her way to a doctor’s appointment when the suspect forced her into a park near Wisconsin Avenue and sexually assaulted her, authorities said.
The case went cold for decades.
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The break came when the Montgomery County Police Department's Cold Case Unit worked with police in Morgan Hill, Calif., after a crime lab linked a rape there to the case in Montgomery County.
According to court documents, the California victim knew her attacker and identified him as Battice, who now lives in California.
Battice was extradited to Montgomery County to face charges.
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Police are concerned that “there may be additional victims of sexual assault by Battice that have not contacted police.”
Anyone with information about this crime or others can call Montgomery County police at 1-866-411-8477.
