DNA Links Sarasota Bar Manager To Rape: Deputies

SARASOTA, FL — A 32-year-old Sarasota man faces sexual battery charges in connection with a May 2016 attack that was reported at Cracker Jacks Pub.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, the 4116 Bee Ridge Road bar’s manager, Matthew Gormley, was brought into custody Thursday after DNA evidence collected in the case came back as a match.

The case against Gormley began to unfold shortly before 3 a.m. on May 22, 2016, when the victim alleges Gormley attacked her in the bathroom. The victim told deputies she was at the bar with another person when Gormley asked that person to leave. When the person did, Gormley is accused of locking the bar's door and making sexual advances towards the woman, according to an arrest report.

The woman turned down the advances and left to use the restroom, the arrest report said. Gormley, the arrest report stated, followed her, entered her stall and sexually battered her.

After the alleged battery, the woman left. She was taken to a local hospital by a friend and reported the incident to the sheriff’s office. When questioned in the case, Gormley told detectives he had no contact with the victim. The sheriff’s office said the DNA test results indicate otherwise.

Gormley was charged with sexual battery and kidnapping/false imprisonment on Thursday, March 2. He remained in the Sarasota County Jail Friday in lieu of $251,500 bond, according to jail records.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office