Man arrested in Philippines after DNA ties him to Alaska sexual assault

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Carmen Daniel Perzechino Jr., 57, is being extradited to Alaska after his DNA matched an unsolved sexual assault that happened near Sterling in January 2001

April 6, 2019

The Alaska State Troopers, with the help of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, have arrested a man in the Philippines after a DNA link to a sexual assault in Alaska 18 years ago.

Carmen Daniel Perzechino Jr., 57, is being extradited to Alaska after his DNA matched an unsolved sexual assault that happened near Sterling in January 2001. This is also the first arrest of the troopers' Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Investigation.

Perzechino was indicted by a Kenai grand jury on March 13, 2019 for kidnapping and sexual assault tied to his alleged crimes in 2001. The indictment came after the sexual assault kit was tested. However, troopers say he was suspected to have left the country in February after the investigation into the crime began.

Perzechino was extradited to Seattle in August, where he went before a judge and waived extradition to Alaska. When he arrives, he will be arraigned by an Alaskan judge.

"This case demonstrates why SAKI is so important," said Amanda Price, Commissioner of Department of Public Safety. "We owe it to survivors of crimes like this to investigate new leads and follow through on these cases. I am very proud of what SAKI is accomplishing and the justice it hopefully provides to survivors across Alaska."

Troopers say that in 2017, an inventory of sexual assault kits showed there were more than 3,000 kits from police agencies all over the state which had not been sent to the state crime lab for testing. In some cases, those kits dated back 30 years.

Anyone with information about Perzechino's alleged crimes are asked to contact AST.