The Denton County District Attorney’s office has confirmed that a man accused of breaking into a stranger’s house in Lake Dallas to assault a female adult and her daughters has been released after evidence was left in an unsecured area.
An arrest affidavit from the incident claims that Jaden Rekanovich, now 20 years old, broke into a woman’s house in May 2023 “with the intent to commit sexual assault,” as reported by WFAA.
Rekanovich allegedly attacked the female adult before he was dragged off the victim by her two daughters, ages 18 and 21.
Rekanovich fled the scene. However, the daughters chased him down on the Denton Katy Trail. There, the 18-year-old daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by Rekanovich.
Rekanovich was discovered naked with animal feces on his hands and arrested by police, per WFAA.
Rekanovich was charged with burglary and aggravated sexual assault, along with later being accused of kicking a jailer, resulting in the potential for decades in prison.
Denton County First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck said the office agreed to a deal that would result in Rekanovihc serving 10 years of “deferred adjudication,” commonly referred to as probation, while also being registered as a sex offender, according to WFAA.
Beck said the issues in handling the evidence were the direct reason for the case resulting in a plea deal and that it displayed “problems with chain of custody” in how evidence is handled, per WFAA.
Lake Dallas Police Chief Alan Sawyer said there was no indication of tampering and the bags appeared to be properly sealed, noting that no officers faced discipline for the lack of management.
Sawyer added that the department is currently adding a digital locker system for evidence to reduce human error, and security cameras have been added to all property evidence rooms.
“Everybody is human and there are human errors we have to deal with,” he said, according to WFAA.