Cody Casteel

SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — A DNA sample collected from an accused rapist in a 2016 case in Mercer County has now linked the same suspect to the rape of a woman in Butler County more than three years ago, authorities said.

State police in Butler on Wednesday obtained an arrest warrant for Cody K. Casteel, 23, of New Castle on rape and other charges in the previously closed case.

He is free on bail while awaiting trial in Mercer County on rape charges there.

Police have been investigating the sexual assault in Slippery Rock Township since Oct. 23, 2014, when a woman reported she was raped while walking on a secluded trail in a wooded area near Slippery Rock Creek.

Then 22 years old, she recounted that a man grabbed her from behind, threw her to the ground, pulled her pants down and assaulted her, according to court documents.

The Butler County woman, who is now 25, told police that she tried unsuccessfully to fight off her attacker. He kept her from screaming, she said, by placing his fingers in her mouth.

He later called her a derogatory name before driving away in a pickup truck.

The victim was able to provide police with a good description of the suspect and his pickup, which she described as “immaculate,” documents said.

As the weeks and months elapsed, police say they eventually closed the investigation “due to the lack of evidence.”

But in early 2017, the case was kick-started again. A report from the state police crime lab in Westmoreland County finally had the name of a suspect.

Chalk it up to fate, luck or an unexpected melding of science and circumstances.

A biological sample taken from the victim's rape kit, police said, was entered into CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, an FBI database of criminal suspects' biometric data.

That sample, according to authorities, matched Casteel's DNA profile.

His DNA, it turned out, had been entered into CODIS following his arrest in an unrelated 2016 rape in Mercer County, documents said.

Three weeks after police received the lab report, the Butler County woman picked Casteel out of a photo array.

He is charged with rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and aggravated assault.

In the Mercer County case, Casteel is accused of raping a then 24-year-old woman near her Lake Township home on June 8, 2016.

The woman told police that she met the defendant through a social networking website and agreed to meet him in the township.

He later coaxed her into his truck because it was chilly outside.

She said Casteel attacked her, taking off her clothes and raping her, documents said. She said she tried to push him off her but he was too strong.

Police later identified the defendant through his social networking website.

He was arrested and arraigned June 21, 2016, on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sexual assault. He was placed in the Mercer County Prison following arraignment.

Eight days later, Casteel was ordered held for trial following a preliminary hearing. That same day he posted $25,000 bail and was released from prison.

Online records show Gary Gerson of Pittsburgh is listed as Casteel's attorney in the Mercer County case. Gerson did not immediately return a telephone call Thursday.