According to a press release from the office of Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes, a Smyrna man was convicted Thursday of aggravated sexual battery, and false imprisonment for the attack on a 16-year old girl on Dec. 17, 1998, near Twin Courts Lane in Marietta.

Ricky Remon Moss, a/k/a Anricky Remon Moss, now 49, was convicted in the courtroom of Cobb County Superior Court Judge Reuben Green. Green sentenced Moss to two consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years to serve in custody.

The press release describes the incident as follows:

The victim had met Moss a few days earlier, but only knew his first name. After the rape, she immediately reported it to Cobb Police and underwent a sexual-assault exam in which evidence was collected and preserved. Cobb Police were unable to locate or fully identify the perpetrator, and at that time, laboratory policies were to only test kits when a known sample could also be submitted for comparison.

In 2016 a Georgia law was enacted that required all old kits to be submitted to the GBI for testing.

In December of 2017, the crime laboratory matched the evidence to Moss, whose DNA profile was in the Combined DNA Index System as a convicted felon.

“This day has been a long time coming. The courage shown by the victim and the other women who bravely testified and relived their horror these many years is truly remarkable,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Theresa Schiefer said. “Their bravery and perseverance has ensured that this predator will never hurt another woman or child.”

According to the press release, “Schiefer and Inv. Christie Nerbonne are part of the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative task force, which investigates and prosecutes cold case sexual assaults, and also trains other investigators and prosecutors on best practices for handling these types of cases.”

“It is a bittersweet moment when justice is delivered after a lengthy delay, but law enforcement capabilities are ever-evolving,” DA Holmes said. “I am elated that now, more than 20 years after this man took advantage of the innocence of a teenager, truth has prevailed.”