The first reported incident occurred on the morning of Saturday, March 16, 1991. An unidentified man reportedly approached an 11-year-old girl on Rayben Street in Glendenning, located in Sydney’s western suburbs.

The man allegedly coaxed the young girl into his vehicle under the pretense of giving her a ride. He then drove her around, stopped the car, and is accused of sexually assaulting her before leaving her at Mount Druitt Railway Station.

In a separate incident on Saturday, February 17, 1996, around 1 a.m., a 16-year-old girl in Kanahooka, southern Wollongong, reportedly accepted a ride from an unknown man.

After driving for a while, the suspect allegedly halted the car and sexually assaulted the teenager before dropping her off in Warrawong.

Another case unfolded in the early hours of Sunday, December 22, 2002, when a 26-year-old woman accepted a ride from an unknown man near the Commercial Hotel in Dubbo.

The man drove her to Devil’s Hole Reserve, where he allegedly stopped the car and sexually assaulted her, later leaving her a short distance away on Cobbora Road.

All three incidents were reported to police, and DNA samples were obtained in each case, however, the matters remained unsolved.

In 2022, State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad began a review of several historic sexual assault cases to assess their suitability for emerging forensic technologies.

New DNA analysis confirmed the three incidents listed above were linked by the same male DNA profile.

A renewed investigation was able to make use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG).

FIGG is an emerging investigative tool that combines advanced DNA analysis with traditional genealogy to help identify suspects through commercial DNA databases.

The technique first gained widespread public recognition after it was used to identify and catch the “Golden State Killer”, former US police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, in California.

Unlike standard forensic DNA profiling, which examines 21 markers, FIGG analyses hundreds of thousands of genetic markers, enabling investigators to identify extended familial relationships, sometimes as distant as third or fourth cousins.

These genetic markers are compared against two public genealogy databases – GEDmatch PRO and FamilyTreeDNA – which permit law-enforcement access to consenting profiles for use in solving serious and violent crimes.

In this case, the unknown male DNA profile was uploaded to the databases, allowing detectives to identify what they claim is a close relative of the suspect.

At about 12.45pm yesterday, strike force detectives executed a search warrant in South Kempsey on the NSW Mid North Coast, where they arrested a 77-year-old man.

He was charged with a string of offences, including five counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

He was refused bail and will appear in court today.

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