Detroit man sentenced in 4 sexual assault cases that date back to 1997

A Detroit man who was convicted of a series of sexual assault cases dating back to 1997 will spend decades in prison. 

Akida Diaba Dudley, 51, on Monday, was sentenced to 29 years and 8 months to 45 years for four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. In addition, Dudley was sentenced to 10 years to 22 years and 6 months for four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. 

"The four survivors in this case have been waiting many years for justice and accountability. Today, they received justice. They will never get back what was violently taken from them, and I hope that this brings them some semblance of closure," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. 

Prosecutors allege Dudley sexually assaulted four women in Detroit from 1997 to 2004. The alleged assaults occurred on June 9, 1997, Sept. 22, 1997, Feb. 10, 2002, and Aug. 9, 2004. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 30 years old. 

The four cases were related to more than 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.     

Dudley was arrested and arraigned in April 2025 and found guilty by a Wayne County jury in July 2026. 

"Since our sexual assault initiative started, we have convicted over 270 rapists and brought many more survivors justice. We are proud of our survivors that stood up and bravely went through the criminal justice process. And I am proud of my staff for relentlessly pursuing this work," Worthy said. 

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