DNA test clears suspect of sex-assault charges
Nov 2, 2012, 9:29 AM | Updated: 9:30 am
A Scottsdale man has been cleared in two sexual- assault cases, after a DNA test proved to not be a match with forensic samples of the attacker.
Ryan Festa had turned himself in Oct. 26, after Scottsdale police released a sketch of a rape suspect, who resembled Festa. The 22-year-old’s attorney said the young man has a brain injury and is susceptible to suggestion.
Two women were sexually assaulted in their Scottsdale apartments in the span of a week, with the attacker using similar methods of entry into the homes.
The first attack occurred Oct. 18. Police spokesman Sgt. Mark Clark said a man entered an apartment through an unlocked patio door and sexually assaulted a 49-year-old woman.
A 29-year-old woman was assaulted Oct. 24 at a complex a few blocks away by a man who also came in through an unlocked patio door.
Both victims gave police similar descriptions of the man for the composite sketch.
