North Carolina man sentenced to life in prison for 1994 rape
03/08/2026 7:30 am PDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TCN) -- A 53-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping a woman in 1994.
In February, a jury found James Ingersoll guilty of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary in the June 17, 1994, attack, according to WCNC.
On the night of the attack, Ingersoll broke into the home of the woman, whose name has not been released, WCNC reports. She was asleep at the time. When she tried to fight him off, Ingersoll held a weapon to her neck.
After the assault, she was afraid he was still in the house, so she jumped out a window and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police. A sexual assault kit was collected at the hospital, but no suspect was identified at the time and the case went unsolved for decades.
In 2018, a cold case unit sent the samples from the kit to an outside laboratory, which established a male DNA profile, according to WCNC. In 2022, the profile was submitted to another laboratory for forensic investigative genetic genealogy testing. Those results, combined with other information, led authorities to Ingersoll.
Ingersoll was arrested in 2023, per WBTV, and the evidence from the testing linked him to another sexual assault case.
A press release from the district attorney’s office states the victim, now in her 70s, “bravely testified against her attacker.” Of the sentencing, the statement reads, “The District Attorney’s Office is grateful for its partnership with local law enforcement and with the community, which, along with one survivor’s enduring courage, made this outcome possible.”
Superior Court Judge Craig R. Collins applied sentencing laws in place at the time of the attack, which carried a possibility of parole on the life sentence, per WCNC.
In addition to the life sentence for the rape charge, Ingersoll was also sentenced to 25 years for the burglary charge, to be served consecutively. If released, he will have to register as a sex offender for 30 years.
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