FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - A 56-year-old man charged with raping a woman nearly 30 years ago at Shoaff Park has taken a plea deal.

David Mark Kerner was charged in connection with the May 29, 1997, rape earlier this year.

The victim told police her attacker beat and raped her at knifepoint after grabbing her from behind on a trail near the boat ramp at the park, court records show. A sexual assault forensic exam was performed on her at the Sexual Assault Treatment Center and then submitted to the Indiana State Police Laboratory after the assault.

In March of this year, the Fort Wayne Police Department learned there was a hit in the Combined DNA Index System in the case, linking Kerner to the attack, court documents say. He was then charged in the case and arrested in May.

Kerner pleaded

See Full Page