LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A judge sentenced a southern Indiana to decades behind bars for the brutal rape of an elderly woman that had gone unsolved for 14 years.
The victim, who is now 100 years old, was spared from reliving the attack at a trial because the Jefferson County Prosecutor's Office was able to finally identify her attacker.
Craig Long, 37, was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison for beating and raping the woman at her Deputy, Indiana, home in July 2011, when she was 86 years old.
Investigators said he cut open a screen door and attacked the woman in her hallway. He was wearing a ski mask when he beat the woman and raped her as she prayed for him out loud during the attack. DNA was recovered from the woman's nightgown, but, for over a decade, the suspect remained unknown.
The Jefferson County Prosecutor's Office said breakthroughs in familial DNA techniques broke the cold case. The Indiana State Police Laboratory identified a potential family member of the suspect based on a DNA search. That search led investigators to Long as the primary suspect.
A search warrant was obtained, and Long's DNA was matched to evidence collected in the original investigation. On Jan. 15, 2025, he was arrested and held on a $500,000 bond. Based upon the strength of the evidence, Long received the maximum sentence.
"This conviction is a testament to the commitment of law enforcement to pursue justice, no matter how much time has passed,” Prosecutor David Sutter said in a statement.
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