Due to a DNA match, the Appleton Police Department has been able to make an arrest on a sexual assault occurring in November 2010.
On Nov. 11, 2010, a 26-year-old woman was attacked while walking over the College Avenue Bridge, at about 11:15 p.m. She reported being physically grabbed from behind and repeatedly groped by a man who was unknown to her. The victim fought against the man, attempting to scratch and gouge at his eyes. While fighting off her attacker, her fingers entered his mouth. Appleton Police Department officers conducted an extensive search of the area and collected DNA samples during the investigation. They were unable to locate the suspect.
In May 2016, the Appleton Police Department received a databank hit confirmation from the Wisconsin Crime Lab. DNA, collected from the victim’s finger, had been matched to an individual in the offender index. The individual was a man who had lived near the scene of the assault. Having been convicted of a Winnebago County Prostitution charge in January 2016, the man had been ordered to submit a DNA sample.
The Appleton Police Department has confined Appleton resident, Eric L. Philipsen, 48, at the Outagamie County Jail on a charge of second degree sexual assault with force.
