By Howard Koplowitz
A Woodhaven man who was convicted of petit larceny in November has been charged with raping an 11-year-old Woodhaven girl and a 19-year-old woman in Kew Gardens based on DNA samples he was ordered to give because of his conviction, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said last Thursday.
Mauricio Rosales, 32, of 88-17 Jamaica Ave. in Woodhaven, pleaded guilty in November to stealing more than $3,000 from a former employer, Brown said.
Because of the conviction, he was required to submit a DNA sample to a state database.
His DNA has been positively matched to the rape kits and other crime scene evidence collected from the two rapes, Brown said.
“DNA evidence that was collected from the rape victims and crime scenes at the time of the incidents and stored in a database led us to the alleged perpetrator, thanks to the 2006 DNA expansion law, which in addition to requiring convicted felons to submit DNA samples upon conviction, was expanded to require defendants convicted of 35 various misdemeanors to submit DNA samples,” the DA said in a statement.
Brown called on the state Legislature to require the DNA samples for those convicted of any misdemeanor, not the current 35.
Rosales is awaiting arraignment before Queens Supreme Court Justice James Griffin on an indictment charging him with rape, burglary, robbery, sexual abuse and attempted robbery, the DA said. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
Brown said Rosales allegedly entered an 11-year-old girl’s bedroom in Woodhaven at around 6 a.m. Oct. 20, 2000, through a back door and raped her while her family slept upstairs before stealing several items and then fleeing.
He allegedly told the girl that if she told anyone what happened he would kill her. The girl ran upstairs after the rape and told her mother about it, Brown said.
Rosales also allegedly approached a 19-year-old woman while she was sitting in front of her home in Kew Gardens at around 11 p.m. July 17, 2003, when he pulled her into her driveway at knifepoint and allegedly raped and robbed her, Brown said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
