Kenneth Trent McDaniel - Repeat Sex Offender - DNA match shows rape he committed at only 16

Police say DNA evidence has linked a registered sex offender to a more than two-decade-old rape case in Rowan County.

“It's great to know that we're actually utilizing new technologies to solve old cases,” Sgt. Brian Stallings, of the Salisbury Police Department, said.

Kenneth Trent McDaniel, 39, a registered sex offender convicted of rape in 1990, was arrested this week on rape and robbery charges dating back to 1986, when he was 16. The victim of the Salisbury attack was in her 30s at the time.

"I'm completely glad that he's caught because this really did hurt me and my children,” she said in a statement. “I'm glad he's where he needs to be now."

McDaniel is in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $500,000 bond.

DNA is taken from all convicted felons in the state. Attorney General Roy Cooper said there are currently 178,000 samples in North Carolina's database

“Last year alone, we got more cold hits on that DNA database solving rapes and murders than we did the first decade of the program,” Cooper said at an appearance in Salisbury last week about the importance of DNA to solving crimes.

Cooper said he wants to expand who has to submit a sample.

“One law enforcement technology issue that I am proposing is that we take DNA samples from those arrested for violent felonies,” he said. “We need to get that DNA information into the system sooner, instead of after two or three years when they're convicted.”

DNA, the attorney general says, is no different than a mug shot or fingerprint taken when someone is arrested but only 15 states in the country take samples from people before they're convicted. In those states, it's usually specific to people arrested for violent crimes or sex crimes.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte