LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two untested items from a 1990 rape kit lead to an arrest in Louisville.
Roscoe Smith, 71, went before a judge Monday for arraignment.
Annie Sisk is the alleged victim in this case and wanted to share her name in hopes of inspiring other survivors to speak out.
"I felt like it was very unlikely that we would ever know his name so I convinced myself that I was okay with that so we would never find out who he was," Sisk said. "I'm only now beginning to spot a lot of those consequences that kind of reverberated from this trauma."
The night of December 7, 1990, Sisk said it happened in her apartment building in East Market District on Main Street. Sisk was expecting a friend to stop-by but instead she heard a knock from a stranger.
"I said you got the wrong place and I started to shut the door and he pushed his way in," Sisk said.
That person Sisk said was Roscoe Smith.
She said he was asking for money and threatened to harm her before he raped her.
"I remember screaming," Sisk said. "I remember banging on the wall next to me hoping that my next-door neighbor would hear me."
According to Louisville Metro Police, the rape kit was sent in 1991 to be tested against four possible suspects but they were eventually cleared. The proper technology did not exist during that time to test against unknown offenders and to add profiles into Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
"I just kind of started over."
Sisk left Louisville five months after she said she was raped and moved to South Carolina. But time never really healed her wounds.
"I wasn't okay with it really," Sisk said.
Fast forward to 29 years, this past summer Sisk was doing research online and thought of her perpetrator and how there were possibly other victims.
That led her to call Louisville Metro Police with an answer from Detective Gipson.
"He asked me like 'what do you want to see happen here?' And that was the first time in 30 years anyone has ever asked me that question," Sisk said.
Sisk requested they re-open her case. Six months later on December 7, 2019 – the day that marked 29 years since Sisk was allegedly raped by Smith – turned into a day of victory. Police called to tell her they found the guy.
"There's hope even if you've got an old case and nothing has been resolved and you've given up you might be able to get justice again," Sisk said. "It still might be there for you so don't give up."
Roscoe Smith is charged with sodomy, rape and burglary. He is being held on a $250,000 bond. His next court appearance Tuesday, December 17.
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