Tested after 14 years, rape kit incriminates ex-Memphis cop who now works at kids home
A former Memphis police officer has been charged with raping a crime victim 14 years after the assault occurred.
Bridges Randle, 40, was indicted for aggravated rape for the 14-year-old crime thanks to a previously-untested rape kit that finally made it into the national crime database last year, WMC reported on Wednesday.
According to investigators, officers responded to a domestic violence call from a woman on June 24, 2000. The 23-year-old woman said that a man posing as an officer returned later in the day to ask her more questions.
She said that the man forced her into a bedroom, and raped her at gunpoint.
“DNA evidence was collected and last August the DNA profile of an unknown male was uploaded into the CODIS database. The results and further tests later identified Randle as the suspect," prosecutors explained on Wednesday.
After leaving the Memphis Police Department in 2001, Randle changed his name, and became an administrator at the Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta. Officials did not say how Randle was caught.
"Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta has learned that a staff member has been accused of rape and is being held on bond in the Shelby County Jail in Tennessee," the Boys and Girls Club said in a statement obtained by WMC. "We are deeply concerned and alarmed by this allegation, and have taken immediate action. The employee has been terminated and we have prohibited this individual's access to our organization and any of our operations."
The organization noted that it conducted background checks on all staff, and performed a 50-state search of sex offender registries.
According to the Memphis Area Women’s Council, about 7,000 rape kits have not been tested in the Memphis area.
"We've been working very hard to get through this backlog and to make sure all of these kits get tested and get the results we have today," District Attorney Amy Weirich said on Wednesday.
Randle was being held in Shelby County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.
Watch the video below from WMC, broadcast Sept. 9, 2014.
Leave a Comment
Related Post