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DNA Match Leads to Arrest and 30 Charges in Indianapolis Serial Rape Case

An ICE DNA collection placed his profile in CODIS to produce the match that broke a years-long dead end.

Overview

  • Authorities said Wednesday that 51-year-old Leonel Catalan was arrested and charged with 30 felonies tied to home-invasion sexual assaults on Indianapolis’s north side.
  • The Indianapolis crime lab reported a detainee DNA hit on April 21 after ICE collected a swab that placed his profile in CODIS, the FBI’s national DNA database.
  • The FBI confirmed his identity on April 22, and IMPD officers found him at a relative’s home and arrested him within about four hours.
  • Prosecutors linked him to at least five assaults from 2013 to 2024 and filed counts that include rape, kidnapping, burglary, and strangulation while urging other potential victims to contact police.
  • Officials said he is in the country illegally and is being held on bond, and it is unclear whether ICE has filed an immigration detainer.