A rape case that was previously closed in Independence is now being investigated again.
This comes after Johnson County authorities charged two men with raping a Johnson County deputy last week.
Officials said they believe the suspects may have assaulted others.
“I can't talk about why we believe this, but I will tell you that we feel like now that hopefully with these two being in custody, we can empower these individuals to come forward and talk,” said Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe. “We know there are other victims.”
Sources told 41 Action News that 21-year-old Brady Newman-Caddell may also be connected to the Independence rape case, which occurred in February.
Collecting DNA evidence following the attacks is key for law enforcement. It is not rare for suspects to be involved in other crimes.
“We know perpetrators tend to be serial perpetrators,” explained Marie Alcocer, who works with sexual assault survivors at MOCSA.
It is not required a victim goes through the rape kit process following an attack, but Alcocer encourages it.
"People that perpetrate this kind of violence have been doing it for a while. So that it's important for victims. Even if they choose to not report at that moment, to keep that window of time open, so if they ever choose to, that evidence is there."
All DNA evidence is submitted to a national database.
Sometimes, police find DNA matches in more than one case.
That gives prosecutors the power to get justice for multiple crimes.
“We don't like to focus on that when we talk to victims because it's never a victim’s responsibility to make sure someone else is prosecuted for a crime, but it is important for them to have that option open,” Alcocer said.
Both men charged with raping the Johnson County deputy will be back in court on October 20.
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at lexi.sutter@kshb.com.
