PLANT CITY, Fla. — New evidence landed a man in jail and provided more answers for investigators in a 2015 sexual assault case in Plant City.
Leonel Cortez, who is now 30 years old, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman during the early hours of Jan. 31, 2015, near State Road 574 and Ruth Street, the Plant City Police Department said in a news release. At the time, authorities said the woman reported the incident to law enforcement and went to the hospital for treatment from injuries she got during the alleged assault.
The case went unsolved until Oct. 18, 2022, when the Plant City Police Department received a Combined DNA Index System match from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that belonged to the suspect, Cortez, in the 2015 sexual assault.
Additional tests would later confirm the DNA match with Cortez.
An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 1 and he was later arrested by Tampa police officers on Feb. 3. Cortez is charged with sexual battery causing injury, false imprisonment and criminal mischief, the Plant City Police Department said.
