DNA helps solve local rape case

BAKERSFIELD - A Bakersfield woman who was raped back in 1997 by a stranger could soon see her attacker behind bars.

Local forensic scientists have connected Jason Ellis with his victim and crime through the use of DNA.

Ellis is now being charged with rape through the help of the Cold Hit Program, out of the Kern County Crime Lab.

“It's another example of what 21st century forensics can do to suppress violent crime,” said District Attorney Ed Jagels.

The Program was started back in 2000 through a state grant to investigate unsolved crimes with a sexual component.

Against all odds Ellis, who's in state prison for robbery, came up a match.

“There was virtually no evidence, we had no ID’s, and this is a case that would never have been solved, without DNA,” according to Forensic Biologist Brenda Smith.

She said the profiles are rare.

“We're looking at anywhere from one in a trillion would be actually fairly common, up to one in a sextillion,” Smith said.

But, officials say it's becoming more common everyday.

Meanwhile, the databank is expanding to all felons. There are almost 3-million people in the system. D.A. Ed Jagels says it creates an atmosphere of fewer victims.

Meantime, Ellis is scheduled to be back in Kern County within a week to ten days to face trial.

As of December 2005, Forensic Biologist, Smith, says there have been almost 20,000 offender hits statewide.

One, in Kern County, led to a life sentence for Ruben Gaeta who was convicted of raping a 16-year-old in 2003.