COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of committing rape and aggravated sodomy in Cobb County back in 1990 has received a 30-year sentence after DNA evidence led to his arrest and conviction.
According to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, Christopher Lee Milton, 58, sexually assaulted a woman in 1990. In 2020, after investigators matched DNA evidence from the victim’s rape kit to Milton through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and Milton was arrested in 2021.
Investigative records from the case said the victim, a young woman, was walking on Windy Hill Road near Interstate 75 on March 5, 1990 when she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted.
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She immediately reported the incident to local law enforcement, but the trail went cold, the DA’s office said.
Regarding the investigative process and multi-year path to justice, Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady thanked the victim for not only building a life for herself “without letting that horrible day define her,” but for continuing to work with law enforcement to bring the case to a close. He also praised the county’s cold case unit for their work.
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“I would like to recognize our cold case unit for working on this case. They have worked tirelessly to provide justice and long-awaited answers. Finally, we are grateful to have the funding to utilize current technology to provide answers and hold this perpetrator responsible for his crime,” Broady said in a statement.
After a law passed in 2016 requiring rape kits be tested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Forensic Sciences, the genetic evidence in the victim’s rape kit was matched to an unknown man’s DNA in 2018.
Two years later, in 2020, the GBI received a match from CODIS linking the DNA to Milton.
Now, Milton has pled guilty and Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert D. Leonard has sentenced him to serve a 30-year sentence, with 13 years to serve.
He’s also been permanently blocked from ever contacting his victim.
While the victim of the sexual assault has not been identified, she released a statement on the conviction and sentencing through a victim advocate.
“I want him to know he did not ruin my life. I decided to take my life back. I chose to be strong and an overcomer. This is something I thought would never be resolved. I’m a Christian and I forgive him. But he still deserves to be punished,” she said in the statement.
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