UPDATE Dec. 30:
COLLIER COUNTY COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT MAHMOUD BENNETT SPOKE WITH A NON-PROFIT ABOUT WHAT THIS COULD MEAN FOR VICTIMS DECADES LATER:
Advocates said arrests in decades-old cases can bring complex emotions for survivors.
“An arrest can bring relief and hope for some survivors while it brings others, it can re-open wounds that they’ve worked so hard to survive,” said Shaina Anderson, interim director of Project Help in Naples, an organization that supports victims of sexual assault and violent crime.
Anderson said accountability and healing can look different for each survivor, even many years later.
“Healing isn't a straight linear line. Justice and healing sometimes don't happen at the same time. People cope with trauma in different ways, some cope with it by facing it head on. Others cope through avoidance. Both are valid survival responses,” Anderson explained.
Anderson said accountability, even decades later, can be meaningful for survivors.
“What really rings true in this scenario is accountability even decades later reminds survivors that they were never forgotten,” she said.
Project Help Naples offers confidential, 24/7 support for survivors of sexual assault and violent crime at 239-262-7227 or toll-free at 800-329-7227.
ORIGINAL STORY:
More than two decades after Collier County deputies said a masked intruder sexually assaulted a woman in her Golden Gate home, the Collier County Sheriff's Office has arrested a suspect with the help of advancement in DNA technology.
Rossel Moises Ponce Chirinos, 46, sits is in a Tennessee jail awaiting extradition to face charges of sexual battery and armed burglary in connection with the Aug. 28, 2004 case.
"This was a heinous crime and our detectives have been intent on solving it since Day One," Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said. "We never give up. No matter how much time has passed, we will continue using every investigative tool available to identify offenders and pursue justice for victims."
Deputies say Chirinos, armed with a knife, sexually battered the victim inside her home. DNA collected during the original investigation did not initially produce a match in law enforcement databases.
That changed on Dec. 9, 2025, when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified the sheriff's office of a possible investigative lead. FDLE said a recent search of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the FBI's DNA database, indicated a potential match between DNA taken from Chirinos and DNA from the 2004 sexual battery investigation.
Detectives said they learned Chirinos was in jail in Tennessee for driving without a valid license, where his DNA was collected and submitted into CODIS. Through coordination with the Cocke County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee, Collier County detectives tested a new DNA sample from Chirinos.
Within days, FDLE said it confirmed the DNA sample from Chirinos matched the foreign DNA collected during the original sexual battery investigation.
On Dec. 23, detectives got a warant to charge Chirinos with sexual battery and armed burglary. T
he warrant was served on Chirinos at the Cocke County jail, and arrangements are being made for his extradition back to Collier County, the sheriff's office said.
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