Overview
- Authorities announced Friday that 62-year-old Phillip Cerf was arrested on July 21 and charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault after investigators tied him to attacks from 1997 through 2016.
- Police began linking separate north-Houston rape cases to a single male DNA profile in July 2025 and the FBI’s investigative genetic genealogy team generated family leads that narrowed suspects earlier this year.
- Undercover officers surveilled Cerf in April at his Humble apartment and collected discarded saliva after observing him spit; lab testing matched that DNA to evidence from victims’ sexual-assault exams.
- Cerf denies the allegations in police interviews, his bond is set at $2 million, and the Harris County district attorney intends to seek denial of bail as pretrial proceedings move forward in August.
- Investigators say the probe is active, they have flagged Cerf as a person of interest in additional historical assaults, and they are urging anyone who believes they were victimized to contact HPD’s sex‑crimes unit so cases can be reviewed and linked.