A decade later, New Bedford man arrested after district attorney’s office tests rape kit

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said a man has been arrested in connection to a New Bedford rape case from a decade ago.

Dylan Ponte, 28, is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14.

The district attorney’s office said this is the second cold case they have solved using their untested rape kit initiative.

“I am extremely pleased that our rape kit testing initiative has already resulted in two cold case rapes being solved from more than a decade ago,” Quinn said. “Both these cases demonstrate the importance of fully testing all sexual assault kits. If we did not obtain the grant to have all these kits fully tested, this case may never have been solved and the statute of limitations could have expired.”

In 2012, the victim had been drinking with Ponte in the area of the Hayden-McFadden School, according to the district attorney’s office.

The victim also told police she blacked out and woke up outside of her friends home with multiple bruises on her body.

She submitted to a rape kit that was one of more than 1,100 untested in Bristol County.

In May, the rape kit connected to this case was tested and matched the DNA of Dylan Ponte from previous arrests, according to Quinn’s office.

He is also convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery in Florida.