Avon Sexual Assault Suspect Appears in Court

The man accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the Rails to Trails appeared in court on Wednesday, reports the Hartford Courant.

Luis J. Ortiz, 29, was ordered held on $2 million bail on charges of first-degree sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping. Should he post bail, his whereabouts will be electronically monitored.

According to an arrest warrant, fingernail scrapings taken from the woman who was assaulted led police to Ortiz. The woman fought her attacker during the assault, and in the process, collected his DNA beneath her fingernails. That DNA was first compared to DNA profiles on a national database, but there was no match.

Police obtained a search warrant for Ortiz’s DNA and after obtaining a sample, Ortiz agreed to talk to the Avon officers. Police said that throughout their 56-minute interview, Ortiz was shaking and at times became visibly nervous.

Ortiz served 18 months in prison after being convicted of possession of narcotics with intent to sell in Massachusetts in 2005. The Courant’s David Owens also reported that the warrant stated that Ortiz was questioned by Holyoke, MA police in the sexual assault of 4-year-old child.

Ortiz’s DNA was also compared to evidence police recovered during their investigation of the killing of Melissa Millan of Simsbury on Nov. 20, 2014 near the rail trail in Simsbury. The DNA did not match.

For more, visit Courant.com.

Photo courtesy of the Avon Police Department.