DNA leads to arrest, charges in violent 2019 sex assault: Calgary police

Calgary police have arrested and charged a man in a nearly six-year-old sexual assault case with the help of DNA.

Around 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, July 14, 2019, police attended a scene on 44 Street SE in Forest Lawn following reports a woman had been sexually assaulted by a man she didn’t know.

Police found the woman with serious injuries and took her to hospital in critical condition. She sustained life-altering injuries as a result of the assault.

An investigation into the crime involved the collection of several pieces of evidence, according to police, including DNA that was submitted to the RCMP National DNA Data Bank.

In December 2024, investigators learned a DNA match was found in the data bank, allowing police to identify a suspect.

Last week, an arrest was made at a home on 162 Avenue SW.

Twenty-six-year-old Kepra Udup Bang is now facing a charge of aggravated sexual assault. He is set to appear in court later this month.

Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson says police don’t give up on any of their cases.

“We’ve got unsolved sexual offences that we’ve been working on that occurred as far back as the 1970s,” he says. “I’ve got two detectives that are dedicated full-time to reviewing these older files.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234 or tipping anonymously through CrimeStoppers.