Monon Trail Attacker Charged with 2016 Rape of Girl in Lawrence
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – An Indianapolis man has been charged in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl from over nine years ago after recently being arrested for raping two women on the Monon Trail.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Thursday that Larry Duerson, 27, has been charged for the alleged sexual assault of a child in Lawrence from February 2016. The girl told police she was sleeping in her room when she woke up to a man standing over her in ski mask. The man then took off her clothes and raped her.
The victim also told police that the suspect said he had a gun and threatened to shoot her if she made any noise.
According to the probable cause affidavit, DNA collected from the victim ended up matching Duerson’s DNA from a database in 2019. The case wasn’t reopened though until this year.
Duerson is also connected to the attacks of two women on separate days in August on the Monon. They both happened early in the morning between 33rd and 35th street.
Each woman told police that they passed a stranger on the trail who came up behind them and grabbed them by the neck, dragged them into the woods, then brutally attacked and raped them. Police say both women were strangled and rendered unconscious during the attack, with one of the women suffering a traumatic brain injury.
DNA collected from both victims was a match to Duerson.
Duerson is charged with two counts of rape and two counts of child molesting, both level 1 felonies.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears released the following statement about the charges against Duerson:
“The accusations in this case are every parent’s and survivor’s worst nightmare. After all these years, we are finally able to provide some answers and hope for the survivor. They courageously revisited their most traumatic experience to help us build this case, allowing us to pursue the justice they deserve.”
