DNA Match Helps VCSO Solve 9-Year-Old Ormond Rape Case

Date Added: January 30, 2018 6:11 pm

Laura Williams
Office of Public Affairs & Media Relations                                                    

DNA TESTING SOLVES 9-YEAR-OLD RAPE CASE, PROMPTS ARREST OF SEX OFFENDER 

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office detectives, with assistance from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, arrested a sex offender today in Vero Beach and charged him with a sexual assault that occurred in the early morning of Sept. 14, 2008, in Ormond Beach.

A 47-year-old visitor was sexually assaulted by a man, then 33, who said he was “into older women” and wanted to have his way with her.  Despite the victim begging him to stop, he refused. The suspect proceeded to sexually batter her in sand dunes along State Road A1A.  The victim later submitted to a forensic exam and the physical evidence was stored in the Sheriff’s Office evidence unit.

But all leads were exhausted and the case turned cold – until October 2015. The state Attorney General’s Office had pushed for state funding to help ease the backlog of sexual assault evidence kits being tested in Florida.  VCSO detectives then sent off the evidence in the 2008 case to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for testing.

Two years later, in October 2017, a DNA match was made and investigators were notified.

Thanks to the DNA match, detectives reopened their case, tracked down the suspect and assembled an arrest affidavit. Adam Gregory Shuman, 41, a registered sex offender from 1998, and a resident of Vero Beach, was arrested today and charged with sexual battery.  He is being held at the Indian River County jail. His bail is set at $50,000.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the state funding from the Attorney General’s Office to help ease the backlog of sexual assault cases,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

The victim, who was visiting Volusia County at the time of the incident, lives in another state.  She was located Oct 31, 2017, and notified about the new evidence. She was was very emotional, but thankful.  Ultimately, she has told investigators she is committed to helping them prosecute her assailant.