Detroit man found guilty in sexual assaults in cases that date back 20 years

A Detroit man was found guilty by a jury of four charges each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in cases that were over 20 years old, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said.  

The four cases were related to over 11,000 untested sexual assault evidence kits found in a Detroit Police Department evidence storage facility in 2009. Those evidence kits, dating from 1984 through 2009, had never been submitted for DNA testing, and the follow-up became known as the Detroit Rape Kit Project.   

Akida Diaba Dudley of Detroit was arrested and arraigned in April 2025 on the charges that resulted from this investigation. The trial began on June 22 and the verdict was returned on Wednesday in Wayne County Third Circuit Court.  

The charges involve sexual assaults of four women, involving incidents that happened from 1997 to 2004 in the City of Detroit, the prosecutor's office said. 

The prosecutor's office said this was the first case handled by its agency involving forensic genetic genealogy, a technique that was used to help solve other sexual assault cases and homicide cases in Michigan. 

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 10.