DNA match links man to 1998 rape

KENTWOOD, Mich (WOOD) - - A DNA sample given by a man as he was let out on parole matched evidence from a 1998 case in which a teenage girl was sexually assaulted in her own bed.

Mark Douglas Ball was arrested a day after he came to a Grand Rapids halfway house on parole from being convicted in 2003 on a home invasion case. Police believe Ball is the man who, 11 years ago, entered a home and raped a then-13-year-old girl while her family was asleep in the house.

At the time, police collected evidence from the house in the 800 block of 59th Street, including DNA. When Ball was released on parole, a routine requirement for a DNA sample matched.

State law requires criminals to give DNA samples which are then run against a national data base of DNA taken from crime scenes. Since the law went into effect in 2001, DNA samples sent from Michigan have helped solve more than 3,000 cases, according to the Michigan State Police.

If convicted in this case, Ball could spend life in prison.

24 Hour News 8 will continue to follow this case.