DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — A 60-year-old felon stands accused on Monday of violently raping an 85-year-old woman during a burglary when he was 21 in Deerfield Beach, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Through DNA testing, Detective Andrew Gianino identified Gregory Rollison as the man who scaled the side of a building to break into the woman’s apartment on July 16, 1987, according to BSO.
“The victim was sleeping when the suspect tied her up and assaulted her twice at knifepoint. Then he stole items from her apartment and fled,” Miranda Grossman, a spokeswoman for BSO, wrote in a statement.
Gianino was an officer for the Deerfield Beach Police Department when he responded to the woman’s apartment in the 300th block of North Federal Highway. The brutality of the crime, he said, haunted him.
“I was on scene in 1987 and physically met the victim,” Gianino said in a statement.
Ten days later, there was a similar violent attack just miles away, according to Miranda. There was a rape kit. Rollison was a suspect. BSO took over the investigation in 1990.
“Without DNA technology or a positive identification from the victim, they couldn’t move forward with the case,” Miranda wrote.
BSO took over the investigation in 1990. The case was the focus of episodes “On The Case With Paula Zahn” on HBO Max in 2009 and “Predator at Large” on Discovery in 2020.
There have been advances in DNA technology and BSO has received grants to reopen cold cases.
“All these years later, she’s passed away,” Gianino said about the victim he met. “It feels like it went full circle, and we were able to provide her some rest, if there is such a thing for her.”
Rollison, who was serving nine years in the California State prison system for attempted murder on a law enforcement officer, was extradited on Sunday to Broward County.
“I think it’s really important for people to know and to maintain hope, so long as there’s DNA, there’s always a chance,” Gianino said.
Rollison, who was at the North Broward Bureau in Pompano Beach, faced two counts of sexual battery and one count of armed burglary of a dwelling. His bond was $130,000.
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