LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A Douglas County judge has denied a rural Lawrence man’s request for a new trial after the man was convicted of molesting a 4-year-old girl.
The Lawrence Journal World reports that attorneys for 69-year-old Richard Gonzalez alleged Friday that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation tested swabs taken from the girl’s body after the January verdict and determined Gonzalez’s DNA was not found on the swabs.
Gonzalez was convicted in January of sexually abusing the girl at a rural Lawrence day care center. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said the defense had information that the KBI had the swabs, even though they weren’t tested and that on the day the first allegation was made, the girl had already changed her clothing and gone swimming.
