DNA comparison swiftly exonerates attempted trespassing suspect to 4 sexual assaults

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (KTRK) -- A man who detectives in Montgomery County believed may have been connected to multiple sexual assault cases has been ruled out as a suspect in them.

Late last week, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of Marco Antonio Rivera, who investigators believed was attempting to break into a woman's apartment in The Woodlands on Nov. 1.

The sheriff's office said the woman, who captured what transpired at her front door on a doorbell camera, posted footage to social media to warn neighbors about a potential prowler. That resulted in another woman accusing the man on the video of sexually assaulting her back in 2016.

The video above is from the doorbell camera footage that Montgomery County detectives used to lead them to Marco Rivera.

This led to cold case detectives taking over and linking the man to at least three other sexually-related offenses, with one dating all the way back to 2013.

Rivera, who investigators determined his potential place of employment from the shirt worn in the doorbell video, was arrested without incident at that workplace.

Since word of the arrest went public last Friday, the sheriff's office said Rivera was ruled out of the cases after a DNA comparison.

"While continuing the investigation into the Sexual Assault cases, Detectives received the DNA comparison results from the linked Sexual Assault cases to the DNA collected from Marco Rivera. The results excluded Rivera as a suspect in the sexual assault cases," the sheriff's office said.

Deputies continued, "Although there was enough probable cause to secure an arrest warrant for Rivera for Sexual Assault, this DNA comparison is an example of how the investigative process works to exonerate suspects within the criminal justice system even after an arrest is made."

The sheriff's office noted that Rivera was still in custody on a charge of attempted criminal trespass of a habitation.

Deputies still urged anyone with information on the sexual assault cases to contact Montgomery County Sheriff's Office at 936-760-5800 or the Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 800-392-7867 and refer to case No. 21A336923.

Get updates on this story by following Shelley Childers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.