An Orlando man has been arrested in connection with three separate rape cases that happened more than two decades ago.
Jason Leonard Blount, 52, was taken into custody earlier this month following a break in the unsolved investigations, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced, according to Action News Jax.
Blount is now facing multiple charges of sexual battery in cases dating back to between 2000 and 2002.
Each case involved a different victim and occurred at various locations across Jacksonville, including near Baymeadows during a jog, near a tennis court and inside a home, officials said.
All three cases had gone cold for years until a recent DNA match through a national database linked Blount to the crimes. Authorities say the DNA had been preserved from each original investigation and was reexamined as part of an ongoing effort to close unsolved sexual assault cases.
In a statement, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the arrest brings new hope to investigations that had no answers for decades.
Blount is currently being held without bond.
