INDIANAPOLIS — The man charged in connection with two Monon Trail sexual assaults has now been charged in a 2016 child sexual assault case in Lawrence.
Larry Duerson Jr., 27, faces two counts of rape and two counts of child molesting, all Level 1 felonies, in the February 2016 case.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced the charges Thursday after DNA evidence connected Duerson to the previously unsolved case.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office says the attack happened in Lawrence while the child was sleeping.
According to court documents, a 13-year-old child woke up to find someone sexually assaulting them in their bedroom in February 2016. Duerson, 18 years old at the time, according to a probable cause affidavit.
While wearing a black ski mask to cover his face, he broke into the victim's home through a window and told the victim not to tell or make any noise, or he would shoot her and everyone else in the house.
The assault lasted 45 minutes to an hour, according to the probable cause affidavit. Duerson told the victim he knew where they went to school and what bus they rode.
A DNA hit in 2019 matched Duerson's DNA to evidence collected from the 2016 investigation. Detective work showed Duerson lived in the same neighborhood as the victim at the time of the assault.
WRTV asked Lawrence Police Deputy Chief Travis Cline why charges weren't filed in 2019 when the DNA was first discovered.
He said the detective assigned to the case could not make contact with the victim, who Cline said moved out of state.
The detective retired and nothing ever happened until a new detective was assigned in August.
"Everybody was taking a look at all of these individuals' prior interactions, prior police reports, and through that, Lawrence went back and followed up on the 2016 case based on that CODIS hit reached out to the victim and then we were in a position to file the case this week. It's tragic. It's tragic because you understand that that victim's been living with it every single day for the last 9 years," said Mears.
Records show Duerson has been in and out of jail.
"On misdemeanor in level 6 cases. I think it's important for people to understand what the actual maximum penalty is on a lot of those cases. The maximum penalty of a misdemeanor is one-year but with good time credit, which has nothing to do with the prosecutor's office or the judges, it's just by operation of state law," said Mears.
Duerson was previously charged with nine felonies in connection with two Monon Trail attacks in August. He's being held on $400,000 bond.
The court documents show Duerson has failed to appear in three prior cases and has been convicted of failing to return to lawful detention and resisting law enforcement.
The prosecutor's office says they're working to see if there are more victims.
