ATTLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A rape kit taken in 2001 from a 13-year-old sexual assault victim has led to the arrest of a 37-year-old Attleboro man.
Patrick Avila has been indicted by a Bristol County Grand Jury on a charge of rape of a child with force.
This arrest is now the fourth time officials have solved a sexual assault case under Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn’s Untested Rape Kit Initiative.
The initiative is now in the process of getting more than 1,100 previously untested Bristol County rape kits fully tested by a private lab under a federal grant for similar initiatives the office received in 2019.
Avila, who was initially charged earlier this year in Juvenile Court due to his age at the time of the crime, had his case transferred to adult court by a Juvenile Court Judge after a Transfer Hearing was held in September. He was arraigned in Fall River Superior Court Tuesday afternoon and posted $10,000 cash bail.
Prosecutors say that on October 26, 2001, the victim went to a school dance where she later met up with a 17 year old named Brandon St. Don. At some point during the evening, the victim left the dance with St. Don and went to a location where he provided her with alcoholic mixed drinks.
After drinking this drink, she became dizzy and felt like passing out, according to the DA’s office. St. Don then took her to a friend’s home on Delano Street, telling her he was taking her to “a safe place.” They eventually arrived at his friend’s house, at which point he dragged her into a car where she blacked out. While she was unconscious in the car, a witness observed St. Don inside the vehicle raping the victim, who was now stripped naked.
The witness was upset upon seeing St. Don with the victim, whom he knew to be a child. The witness then pulled St. Don off of the victim, punched him, and forced St. Don to leave the property.
Hearing this commotion caused the victim to regain consciousness and she realized she was cold and naked. The witness gave the victim clothes and helped her to his basement where he allowed her to sleep. According to prosecutors, Avila was also present when the victim was discovered naked in the car with St. Don and when she was assisted by the witness into the house.
Based upon witness statements and other evidence, St. Don was charged at the time with the girl’s rape. He was later convicted and served a state prison sentence.
Although the victim did submit to a rape kit following the incident, that kit was never fully tested by the state lab. Recent testing done by a private lab as part of the Untested Rape Kit initiative revealed that Avila’s DNA was found on the oral swabs from the rape kit.
The victim has indicated that although she knew who Avila was at that time, she did not have any relationship with him, has no memory of seeing him that night, and never consented to any sexual contact with him.
When told there was evidence of sexual contact with Avila on that date, prosecutors said the victim was shocked and upset. It is now alleged that Avila sexually assaulted the victim in the basement after she had already been raped by St. Don.
“I am very pleased our initiative has resulted in criminal charges being brought against another defendant,” District Attorney Thomas Quinn said. “The victims and law enforcement had a right to have these kits fully tested. We look forward to completing the testing of all of the rape kits in Bristol County within the next month or two. I am very proud that our office identified this very serious problem and did something about it.”
Avila is due back in court February 7.
In November, the DA’s office announced a rape kit taken in 1994 led to the indictment of a 48-year-old suspect who was arrested in New York City.
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