Report: DNA, Leaves Led To Rape Arrest

More than 60 pages of information released by the State Attorney's Office detail how and where police found the evidence needed to arrest a man accused of raping a teenage girl in a wooded area as she was walking to school.

According to a supplemental police report, Matthew Watson, 21, took the 16-year-old girl into the wooded area off 103rd Street near Connie Jean Road about 6:45 a.m. and used a silver gun to make her comply.

The report said that after Watson raped the girl, he forced her to perform certain sexual acts on him.

According to the report, Watson not only told her he would kill her if she told anyone, but he also claimed that he knew where she lived.

Once the crime was reported, police immediately began searching the area, questioning neighbors and searching a car in the 10400 block of Rothbury Drive not far from where the suspect lives.

Video:

Police tested empty beer cans for DNA and fingerprints in the area, according to the report.

Officers spent hours scouring the area for evidence, and they brought the victim back to the scene, the report said. Police said they were able to also find evidence on leaves.

According to the report, an investigator was able to spot the evidence in a "disturbed area they observed."

From those leaves, investigators were able to get DNA swabs, all of which were transported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The investigation began on a Thursday, and the next day, the FDLE confirmed through a database of convicted felons in Florida that the evidence taken from the scene matched Watson's DNA profile.

Watson was questioned by police the same day, and though police said he denied the allegations, Watson was arrested and booked. He was charged with armed sexual battery, armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a firearm or concealed weapon by a convicted felon, and a judge ordered him to be held without bond.