An Akron man was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole after 20 years for a 2010 Barberton rape case, Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich announced Friday.
Derrick Fischer was found guilty of two counts of rape in April for beating, strangling and raping a woman at a party 14 years ago, according to Beacon Journal partner News 5 Cleveland. Fischer was also previously convicted of another rape in Akron more than 30 years ago.
The prosecution of Fisher was conducted as part of the Akron Police Department’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).
The victim was sexually assaulted in 2010, but at the time, investigators did not have a suspect. The evidence in the case was re-tested in 2017 with a DNA profile matching Fischer to the crime.
Prior to sentencing, Fischer was found guilty of a sexually violent predator specification. The specification allowed Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison McCarty to increase the sentence for each count.
“Derrick Fischer is a dangerous man with a violent history. My office will fight to keep him in prison for the rest of his life. Thank you to local law enforcement, the assistant prosecutors, and the survivor for their unwavering determination and relentless pursuit of justice in this case,” Kolkovich said in a news release.
McCarty also designated Fischer as a Tier III sex offender. With that designation, Fischer will have to register every 90 days for the rest of his life if he is ever released from prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years of his sentence.
What is SAKI?
In 2018, the Akron Police Department received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Department of Justice to form the Akron Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit.
SAKI reviews unsolved rape cases that are less than 20 years old where DNA was collected but no suspect was charged with a crime.
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