For 20 years, police say, Stephen Sellman got away with rape.
Until now.
Baltimore County police arrested Sellman, 47, of the 1100 block of Walnut Avenue in Baltimore, on Wednesday, charging him with the 1987 rape of a security guard. He is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center after bail was denied Thursday.
The victim, then 38, was at work at 1:45 a.m. on Oct. 8, 1987 for Maryland Cup Corp. in the 10100 block of Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills when a man entered her security booth, held a screwdriver to her throat, forced her to perform sexual acts, then raped her, police said.
An extensive police search for the suspect led to dead ends until 2005, when during a re-examination of the victim?s clothing, authorities found semen stains.
Baltimore County police submitted the semen sample to the state?s Combined DNA Index System and on Tuesday detectives were notified that a CODIS match had been made identifying Stephen Sellman as the originator of the fluid.
Sellman is charged with first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sex offense and two counts of perverted practice.
Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill said officers have been pulling old cases off the shelves and testing them for DNA matches. Police have tested cases as far back as the 1970s, he said.
