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Thanks to a rape kit that was finally tested, Provo police now have a DNA match for a rape suspect who has eluded them since 2008.
The test results allowed prosecutors on Tuesday to file a rape charge against Arlando Jessie Barton, 40, in 4th District Court. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
Police have asked a judge to issue a warrant for Barton's arrest.
Barton allegedly raped a woman at a Provo motel in 2008. But the rape kit sat untested for years because the Provo Police Department didn't have enough funding, Lt. Brandon Post told The Daily Herald. Amid increased scrutiny of the statewide backlog, the police received new funds that helped them test kits this year.
On Nov. 20, 2008, police suspect that Barton was one of two men who walked into the woman's motel room — they were staying in the room next to her room — for a visit. She said they could stay as long as they left the door open.
The woman told police that the two men were drunk and continued to drink beer in her room.
When the woman complained that her hips were sore, both of the men claimed to be healers and one of them offered her a back massage, according to the charges. But when she declined, the other man — Barton — allegedly persisted, pushed her on her back "very hard," the charges add.
She told the men to leave, but only the other man did. Barton allegedly stayed and raped the woman, according to the charges.
The police investigation eventually led them to Barton, whose Arizona driver license said he hails from the Navajo Nation Reservation. But when Provo police contacted the Navajo Nation Police Department for any information they could provide about Barton's whereabouts, the Utah investigators didn't receive a response.
Complicating matters, police also found conflicting addresses for Barton, including Flagstaff, Ariz., and Joseph City, Ariz.
Earlier this year, the Provo police's funding allowed them to submit the woman's kit for testing. The results came back in late June with a match for Barton, whose DNA profile was already in an Arizona database, according to the charges.
The charges don't specify what led to Barton donating a DNA sample to the database.
As for his criminal history, Barton pleaded guilty to DUI in 1998, according to Arizona court records.
Barton has no prior criminal history in Utah.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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