DNA Search Solves 1995 Palm Beach Sexual Assault Case; Leads to Florida Inmate, Octavio Berrera III, 46, Successful Conclusion From Senate Bill 636

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Octavio Berrera III, 46, was known to be in Florida Department of Corrections in Raiford. On November 21, 2019, an arrest warrant was requested, approved and signed by the Honorable Judge Martz. Arrangements were made to transport Berrera to the Palm Beach County Jail.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, detectives obtained a warrant for the arrest of Octavio Berrera III for Sexual Battery in regard to a Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office 1995 case (#95-120903) in which the sexual assault kit was processed as a result of recent legislation, SB636

Based on the report, on September 30, 1995, a female victim reported being sexual assaulted by an unknown white male. On January 22, 2018, a search of the CODIS DNA database resulted in an investigative lead for the suspect, Octavio Berrera III, 46, who was known to be in Florida Department of Corrections in Raiford. On November 21, 2019, an arrest warrant was requested, approved and signed by the Judge Martz. Arrangements were made to transport Berrera to the Palm Beach County Jail. On March 15, 2020, Berrera was returned to Palm Beach County and booked on sexual assault.

In September of 2015, then Attorney General Pam Bondi called for the testing of Florida’s unprocessed sexual assault kits, and several months later an assessment found more than 13,400 unprocessed kits statewide. During the 2016 Legislative Session, Bondi helped secure millions of state dollars to begin testing Florida’s unprocessed kits. Pam Bondi, a republican, born in Tampa, was the 37th attorney general of Florida, serving from 2011 to 2019.

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