By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A cold case rape of a Lower East Side teen that lay unsolved for nearly 17 years has ended with a Virginia man being charged after his DNA was collected in a national database, prosecutors said Monday.
Alberto Barriera, 46, allegedly choked and raped his 16-year-old victim in the lobby of 106 Eldridge Street apartment when she returned to her home about 2:30 a.m. nearly on Dec. 18, 1993, prosecutors said at his arraignment.
Although a rape kit was collected at the hospital from the alleged victim, there was no match to Barriera's DNA until March 16 when his biological profile was logged in Virginia due to a drug conviction.
His entry into the national DNA database matched his previously unidentified profile in New York State.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. said this case exemplified how collecting the DNA of all convicted offenders could help unsolved cases.
In New York State, convicted felons and certain misdemeanor offenders are entered into the state DNA database.
Barriera pleaded "not guilty" and was held without bail at his Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment on Monday.
He was extradited to New York last week from a Virginia prison where he is serving his drug possession sentence.
