(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O’Brien announced today that 37-year-old Antonio J. Fillmore was sentenced to 32 years in prison for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl last April. She was waiting for her school bus when Fillmore grabbed her.
The morning after the attack, forensic scientists at the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) expedited DNA analysis on the rape kit and within 26 hours of receiving the kit, returned a “hit” in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to a DNA profile, providing Columbus Police Department investigators a named suspect. Police were able to quickly arrest Fillmore.
“We work hard every day to help law enforcement get child rapists off the streets and in prison, where they belong,” said Attorney General DeWine. “I am proud that our scientists at the BCI Crime Lab were able to play a vital part in this team effort.”
“We are so pleased with the quick effort of Attorney General DeWine’s Office in the DNA testing involved in this case,” said Prosecuting Attorney O’Brien. “When a 13-year-old is raped by a stranger in our community, it has to be priority one to protect the community from a predator and hold that rapist accountable, which is now the result of us all working together.”
In February, Fillmore pleaded no contest to three counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.
BCI expedites DNA cases when necessary. Usually the rush testing involves the most violent crimes involving strangers, such as stranger rapes, murders and assaults.
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Eve Mueller: 614-466-3840