KING CITY — Leonardo Ramirez, 28, from King City, was arrested May 31 as a suspect in a rape and child molestation case, following a two-year police investigation.
On Feb. 3, 2018, officers from the King City Police Department responded to a reported sexual assault of a juvenile female. The suspect’s identity was unknown, but a description of the suspect was developed during the investigation.
As time progressed, members of the South County Major Crimes Unit, a collaborative investigative unit between the King City and Greenfield police departments, continued to evaluate and investigate the case in an attempt to identify the suspect.
Earlier this year information was developed that led investigators to suspect Ramirez as a person of interest in the crime.
A meeting with Ramirez was arranged to discuss an unrelated matter at the King City Police Department. When Ramirez arrived, he was offered a disposable mask to comply with the ongoing county health order, as investigators were in close proximity as they spoke.
Upon receiving the mask, Ramirez discarded another mask he had been wearing, which investigators collected at the conclusion of the interview.
The mask was then submitted to the California Department of Justice for DNA analysis. The analysis confirmed a DNA sample obtained from the mask was a match to a DNA sample collected at the time of the initial investigation in 2018.
On May 31, at about 2:56 p.m., investigators located Ramirez in King City and arrested him. He was taken to Monterey County Jail on charges of rape and lewd acts with a child under the age of 14.
