Collier County, FL – More than two decades after a sexual battery in Golden Gate went unsolved, Collier County Sheriff’s Office detectives have arrested a suspect thanks to a DNA match and persistent investigative work.
Rossel Moises Ponce Chirinos, 46, is currently in the Cocke County Jail in Tennessee awaiting extradition to Collier County. He faces charges of sexual battery and armed burglary related to the 2004 incident.
On the early morning of August 28, 2004, a masked intruder armed with a knife entered a home in Golden Gate and sexually battered the victim. DNA collected during the original investigation did not initially produce a match.
That changed on December 9, 2025, when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified CCSO of a potential match in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Chirinos’s DNA, collected during a separate arrest in Tennessee, matched DNA from the 2004 investigation.
CCSO detectives coordinated with the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office to obtain a new DNA sample from Chirinos, which confirmed the match. On December 23, detectives served an arrest warrant signed by Collier County Circuit Judge Amanda Levy-Reis at the Cocke County Jail.
Sheriff Kevin Rambosk praised the detectives’ persistence, stating, “We never give up. No matter how much time has passed, we will continue using every investigative tool available to identify offenders and pursue justice for victims.”
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