DNA technology used to catch Golden State Killer leads to NSW arrest over historic alleged sexual assaults | New South Wales
Sex crimes detectives used emerging DNA technology to arrest an elderly man over a string of alleged sexual assaults dating back more than 30 years, in a first for New South Wales police.
Robert Wayne Kwan, 77, was arrested after detectives executed a search warrant at South Kempsey on the NSW north coast on Wednesday.
Kwan was arraigned Thursday on nine counts of sexual assault and multiple counts of kidnapping.
Police allege Kwan is responsible for three attacks over 11 years; these include an 11-year-old girl in western Sydney in 1991, a 16-year-old girl in the Illawarra in 1996 and a 26-year-old woman in Dubbo in 2002.
NSW police used forensic genetic genealogy (Figg) to match DNA profiles from multiple crimes to genetic profiles; This was the same technique used to identify the Golden State Killer in the United States in 2018.
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Unlike traditional forensic profiling, which examines 21 genetic markers, the Figg process examines hundreds of thousands of genetic markers to identify family connections as distant as fourth cousins.
DNA markers are compared to GEDmatch PRO and FamilyTreeDNA, two publicly available genealogy databases that allow law enforcement to access consent profiles for use in solving serious crimes.
NSW detectives began using the technology to investigate unsolved sex crimes in 2022 and were allegedly able to link three cases to a single male profile.
In the first case, in March 1991, an unknown man allegedly approached an 11-year-old girl in the Sydney suburb of Glendenning and forced her into his car. The man allegedly sexually assaulted her and then dropped her off at Mount Druitt train station.
In February 1996, a 16-year-old girl agreed to pick up the car of an unidentified man in Kanahooka, Wollongong. He allegedly sexually assaulted her and left her in Warrawong.
In December 2002, a 26-year-old woman agreed to be given a ride by an unidentified man who allegedly sexually assaulted her near the Commercial Hotel in Dubbo.
Each of the three alleged assaults was reported and DNA samples were collected.
After DNA analysis confirmed that the attacks were linked to the same male DNA profile, police uploaded it to public genealogy databases, identifying the attacker’s next of kin and eventually narrowing the search to Kwan.
This is the first technology-triggered arrest in NSW.
Sex crimes squad commander Det Supt Jayne Doherty urged the public to consider “opting in” to genealogy websites to allow law enforcement to compare profiles.
This access is used only for the most serious victim-related crimes, such as murders, sexual assaults, or to identify human remains, he said.
According to Doherty, other Australian states are also using this technology, and a previous arrest using this method was made in Western Australia.
“No matter how much time passes, our detectives continue to investigate every possible means to identify those responsible for these types of sexual assaults.”
Kwan did not apply for bail and will return to Kempsey local court on April 22.
