A sex offender, who had tormented three women and left them in a state of emotional turmoil for over a decade, has been sentenced to prison, thanks to a crucial DNA breakthrough.
Donatas Venclovas, aged 34, managed to dodge legal consequences for 14 years after launching three attacks in just one hour in Leicester on January 8, 2011.
Even though he left behind significant DNA evidence, it didn’t match anyone in the police database until his arrest in London earlier this year.
Venclovas, residing on Argyle Road in Canning Town, London, entered a guilty plea to charges of attempted rape and three counts of sexual assault. He received a sentence of seven years and two months at Leicester Crown Court on a recent Friday.
Leicestershire Police initiated an investigation back in 2011 after they were alerted to a woman over 50 years old who reported an attempted rape in Rally Park, Tudor Road.
Around 08:50 GMT, the woman encountered Venclovas who had his hands down his trousers. As she attempted to escape, he forcibly pushed her to the ground.
The attacker tried to undress her, but she courageously fought back, biting his hand and shouting for help, which prompted a nearby resident to rush to her aid and caused Venclovas to flee.
The police communicated a computer-generated image of Venclovas based on the victim’s description, leading to two additional victims stepping forward.
These women reported having been indecently assaulted by a man matching the description earlier that same morning.
The first assault occurred on Rutland Street in the city center just before 07:40, with the victim being grabbed from behind around her neck and between her legs.
Minutes later, Venclovas exposed himself to a 74-year-old woman before assaulting her.
“Years of Unresolved Pain”
The police noted that, even after an extensive investigation, the suspect was not identified.
Detectives painstakingly reviewed extensive CCTV footage, made public appeals, conducted door-to-door inquiries, and talked to key witnesses to no avail.
Interestingly, a year later, they discovered the same DNA profile in a separate investigation in London, but the suspect’s identity still eluded them.
Venclovas was eventually caught on a different charge in London this February, leading to a match of his DNA with that from the unauthorized acts he had committed back in 2011, compelling police to reopen the case.
Authorities were able to reconnect with two of the victims, although the family of the 74-year-old victim had already lost her by that time.
On August 18th, Venclovas confessed to charges of attempted rape and three counts of sexual assault.
After the ruling, Detective Constable Shannon Hughes commented, “For over ten years, these women have borne the pain of not knowing the identity of their attacker, who could still be at large. The bravery of one of the victims back in 2011 has ultimately led to this case being solved. Still, it required a thorough review and new connections with the victims to prepare the case for trial in 2025.”
He continued, “Fortunately, the victims are saved from the additional trauma of rehashing their ordeals in trial court; this should hopefully mark a close to the long years of suffering with unresolved pain.”
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