CHARLOTTE, NC – Cold case detectives have identified and charged a man with a rape that happened on Christmas Day in Charlotte 32 years ago.
Police were called to a burglary and sex assault in the early morning hours of December 25, 1993.
With no leads at the time, the case quickly went cold.
Investigators got a break in 2022 using grant money from the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. Testing on evidence in the case led to the discovery of a partial male DNA sample.
Detectives searched the State Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and got a match to convicted felon Tony Leslie.
Leslie is serving a 13-year prison sentence in Scotland County, North Carolina for several 2019 burglary convictions.
CMPD detectives interviewed Leslie in prison and then a prosecutor indicted him on charges of first-degree rape and burglary.
Leslie pleaded guilty on March 17, to first-degree burglary and was sentenced to an additional 14 years in prison, to be served consecutively with his current sentence.
