DNA match brings in suspect

The Peoria Police Department, in collaboration with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, has made an arrest in connection with a 2009 kidnapping and sexual assault of a child.

The suspect, James Lipton, 43, was taken into custody July 31, following a DNA match, according to a news release.

This investigation began back in January 2009, when an 8-year-old girl reported being approached by a man while walking home from a nearby elementary school. The suspect, posing as a police officer and claiming to be a friend of her mother, convinced the child to get into his vehicle. He then drove her to a nearby neighborhood where he committed heinous acts on her and released her, the release said.

At the time, a sexual assault kit was collected and tested, which came

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