CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced that Kenneth Edmond, 63, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting two different women in 2000 and 2001. The State requested a minimum 20-year prison sentence.

“Our G.O.L.D. Unit’s work is incredibly important. We will never stop working to solve every cold case. We will never stop fighting to provide justice for crime victims in our county.”

Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley

John Doe #103

On September 15, 2000, the 72-year-old female victim, who was homeless at the time, was standing under the Detroit-Superior bridge. An unknown male approached the victim, shoved her to the ground, and sexually assaulted her. After the sexual assault, he fled the scene. The victim walked around asking for help. A good Samaritan assisted her and called the police. The Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) responded to the scene and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital where a sexual assault kit was collected.

On October 30, 2001, the 21-year-old female victim was walking near East 14th Street and Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland. An unknown male approached the victim, grabbed her by the neck, and forced her through an opening in a fence under the I-90 bridge. He proceeded to sexually assault the victim multiple times. After the sexual assault, he took her money and then fled the scene. A good Samaritan nearby assisted her, and she was transported to a nearby hospital where a sexual assault kit was collected. 

The same unique male DNA profile was developed from both victims’ sexual assault kits but did not produce any leads in CODIS. The DNA profile was then indicted as “John Doe #103” to ensure that the statute of limitations did not expire.

The CCPO and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s DNA lab (BCI), reviewed the DNA evidence in 2022 for potential forensic genetic genealogy. The DNA profile for John Doe #103 was submitted to Gene by Gene. Investigative genetic genealogists with Gene by Gene and Firebird Forensics Group Incorporated as well as CCPO GOLD Unit investigators were able to connect John Doe #103’s DNA profile to that of Kenneth Edmond, 63.

Investigators then obtained Edmond’s DNA and sent it to BCI to be tested. The tests confirmed that the DNA in the victims’ sexual assault kits matched that of Edmond. The original John Doe #103 indictment was amended to reflect his true name as the defendant. Edmond was arrested by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department on December 6, 2023.

On March 14, 2025, Kenneth Edmond was found guilty by a jury of the following charges:

  • Two counts of Rape
  • Two counts of Kidnapping

The State requested a minimum 20-year prison sentence. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

SAKTF / G.O.L.D Unit History 

Since its inception, the work of the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force (SAKTF) has resulted in the indictments of over 960 defendants, the highest number of any SAKTF in the country. The number of indictments includes crimes committed upon over 1,050 victims because several defendants are convicted or alleged serial offenders.

In 2019 and 2020, the CCPO’s Sexual Assault Kit Task Force (SAKTF) was awarded grants from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance SAKI program. Part of that funding helped launch the office’s G.O.L.D. Unit in October 2020.

Prosecutor O’Malley formed the G.O.L.D. Unit to review unsolved cold cases, conduct follow-up investigations, and review evidence for the potential of applying advanced forensic techniques. In 2021, 2022, and 2023, the G.O.L.D. Unit was awarded additional DOJ SAKI grants, including funding for the application of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) and familial DNA searches to unsolved sexual assaults, homicides, and other violent crimes.

The unit’s work includes the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, the Cold Case Initiative, and Genealogy. To date, 62 DNA profiles in violent crime cases have been submitted for FGG and/or familial DNA searches, 16 offenders have been identified, and 23 rape cases have been solved.

The SAKTF / G.O.L.D. Unit is led by the CCPO in partnership with the research team led by Dr. Rachel Lovell, director of Cleveland State University’s Criminology Research Center, and includes the Cleveland Division of Police, the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.