OLYMPIA, Wash. – DNA taken from a child rape victim cleared a 23-year-old man charged in the case, prompting prosecutors to ask Wednesday for the charges to be dismissed.
David Lukas Lynch, who police said had been living in an elaborate underground bunker, was arrested Feb. 6 a few blocks from the home where an 11-year-old girl was raped at knifepoint the previous day.
Lynch is currently at Western State Hospital under a civil commitment that is separate from the criminal case.
"What we found out today is that there was male DNA found on the victim's body in numerous locations, and that DNA all belonged to a specific person. And that person was not David Lukas Lynch," prosecutor John Skinder said.
On Feb. 8, Lynch was charged with three counts of first-degree child rape while armed with a deadly weapon, one count of burglary and one count of second-degree child assault.
The prosecutor's office filed for dismissal of all counts after the DNA results were returned Wednesday from a private lab.
The test results give prosecutors a DNA profile of the rapist, Skinder said. Police likely will run the profile through a nationwide DNA database of felons, he said.
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