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Man Accused Of Sexually Attacking Lincoln Park Runner Linked To 2014 Rape

 DNA evidence linked Timothy Reliford, 32, to a 2014 rape case.
DNA evidence linked Timothy Reliford, 32, to a 2014 rape case.
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DNAinfo; Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The man accused of sexually attacking a runner near the Lincoln Park zoo last year has been charged in a 2014 rape case.

Authorities this month were able to match Timothy Reliford's DNA to a rape kit collected in June 2014, Assistant State's Attorney Marilyn Salas-Wail said during a bond hearing Friday.

In that case, Reliford is accused of raping an 18-year-old woman he met online after the woman said she didn't want to see him anymore, prosecutors said. Reliford was arrested in June 2014, but later released without being charged.

During the two-year delay in filing charges, Reliford allegedly groped and kissed a runner near the Lincoln Park zoo in April 2015.

RELATED: Man Sexually Attacks Runner, Asks If They Can Keep in Touch: Prosecutors

"Why was he released in 2014?" Cook County Judge James Brown asked prosecutors during a bond hearing Friday.

"It was an ongoing investigation, your honor," Salas-Wail said.

Reliford has been held in Cook County Jail since April 2015, when his bail in the Lincoln Park Zoo case was set at $250,000. Judge Brown on Friday set Reliford's bail in the 2014 rape case at $250,000. To post bond, Reliford would now need 10 percent of the combined $500,000 bail amount, or $50,000.

According to prosecutors, Reliford used a fake name when he began chatting with the then 18-year-old rape victim in May 2014. Reliford was 30 at the time.

The pair chatted online before exchanging phone numbers and meeting in person at Union Station, 225 S. Canal St., on June 10, 2014, Salas-Wail said.

On June 15, Reliford asked the woman to come over to his apartment in the 100 block of West Division Street, according to prosecutors. The woman agreed — but planned to tell Reliford she didn't want to see him anymore, Salas-Wail said.

When the woman later tried to leave Reliford's apartment, prosecutors said, he blocked the doorway, threw her on to a bed and told her to take off her clothes.

The woman refused, and Reliford allegedly began to choke her. That's when Reliford pulled off his pants, pulled off the victim's pants and proceeded to rape the woman, Salas-Wail said.

When Reliford went to the bathroom after the attack, the victim left and called police, prosecutors said. A rape kit was collected at St. Mary's Hospital.

Reliford was arrested, Salas-Wail said, and authorities collected a DNA sample. He was then released.

In May 2016, nearly two years after the attack, police were notified that a state laboratory positively matched Reliford's DNA to the DNA found in the victim's rape kit, prosecutors said.

The victim identified Reliford in a lineup, Salas-Wail said, and cell phone records show communication between Reliford and the victim around the time of the attack.

Reliford, now 32, was arrested inside Cook County Jail about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and charged with criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint, court records show.

He will next appear in court June 7 for the Lincoln Park Zoo attack case, which has not yet gone to trial.

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