Cristian Josue Arteaga, 35, formerly of Hyattsville, Maryland, has been indicted by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The indictment includes multiple counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed with aggravating circumstances. This stems from an armed rape that occurred on January 22, 2012, in Northeast Washington D.C., as announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Arteaga is set to be arraigned before Judge Jason Park. If found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.
The government's evidence indicates that on January 22, 2012, around 2:30 a.m., the victim was walking home from work near the Ft. Totten Metro station when Arteaga approached her. He asked for the time and then brandished a handgun, demanding money and making a sexual demand at gunpoint. He then assaulted her multiple times in her neighbor’s carport and threatened her not to report the crime under threat of death before fleeing.
Fearful due to his threats, the victim delayed reporting the incident until the following morning. A rape kit was obtained and crime scene technicians collected evidence promptly in 2012. DNA testing revealed an unknown male profile which was entered into CODIS but yielded no matches at that time.
On December 19, 2023, Texas authorities issued an NDIS CODIS offender letter indicating a match between Arteaga's DNA profile and that from the 2012 crime scene evidence. Detectives traveled to Texas to collect Arteaga's DNA sample legally for further comparison with previous evidence from the assault.
Arteaga has been detained since his arrest and transferred to Washington D.C. in January 2025 for prosecution.
The case is being investigated by MPD and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
"An indictment is merely an allegation," emphasizes officials involved in this case stating that "all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."