DNA from federal arrest ties ex-DeKalb officer to cold case rape, DA says

For 15 years, two women waited for an arrest after reporting as teenagers to DeKalb County police that a man sexually assaulted them.

On Wednesday, county officials identified the man accused in the cold case as formerly one of their own. Cameron Livsey, who rose to the rank of sergeant, was a DeKalb police officer at the time of the alleged crimes, District Attorney Sherry Boston said.

“Cases like this shake our faith in the criminal justice system and the people entrusted to work within it,” Boston said at a news conference announcing the indictment. “I hope that Livsey’s indictment shows that here in DeKalb County, no one is above the law.”

Livsey, now 47, resigned in lieu of termination and left the department by July 7, police said. The resignation followed his arrest on April 30 on unrelated federal child sexual abuse material charges, according to officials, who said they used his DNA obtained after that arrest to link him to the 2011 Dekalb cold case. He remains in federal custody.

DeKalb court records do not list an attorney on file for Livsey. His attorney in the federal case could not be reached immediately for comment.

Police Chief Gregory Padrick confirmed Livsey spent most of his DeKalb career on patrol, and he does not believe Livsey helped investigate the sexual assault case.

In DeKalb, Livsey faces several new charges including rape, aggravated sodomy and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, court records show. Boston said her office is combing through other cold cases to see if it is possible Livsey had other victims.

Padrick said that no badge, rank or position within the department places an officer above the law.

“I want to acknowledge the victims in this case. Nearly 15 years have passed since this crime was reported, but the passage of time does not diminish what happened, and it does not diminish our responsibility to pursue justice,” Padrick said.

The attack began Oct. 8, 2011, in Exchange Park, officials said.

A 17-year-old and 16-year-old were walking when a man approached them from behind and told them not to turn around because he had a gun, Boston said. He then took their bags, phones and money before Boston said he ordered them to remove their clothes and lie face down on the ground.

The 17-year-old said the man touched her before turning his attention to her friend, Boston said.

“After sexually assaulting both girls, he ordered the 17-year-old to get up and run away naked, warning her that if she turned around, he would shoot her,” according to Boston.

The 17-year-old girl then ran to an apartment complex on Lumby Drive for help. After police spoke with the teen, they confirmed the 16-year-old was missing and entered her name into the National Crime Information Center.

Boston said a few hours later, on the following morning, DeKalb police responded to a call about a possible rape and robbery at an apartment complex off Panola Road, about 8 miles from Exchange Park. There, they found the missing teen.

“The 16-year-old victim told officers that after the man ordered her friend to run away from the park, he made her put her clothes back on and get into his silver Dodge Charger,” Boston said.

The victim told officials she was told to keep her head down and said she did not know where she was taken, but she remembered hearing a garage door opening and closing, Boston added. The man then made her get out of the vehicle and took her into a home, where Boston said he “raped her and forced her to perform oral sex at gunpoint.”

“After the assault, the man tried to destroy the evidence of his crime by making the teenager take a shower before getting her dressed again and dropping her off at the apartment complex,” Boston said.

Police took the 16-year-old to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where medical staff performed a sexual assault exam and recovered DNA. The DNA profile was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, with no match, Boston said.

Nearly a decade and a half later, in August, after the FBI’s April arrest of Livsey, officials matched his DNA to the DeKalb case. According to Boston, when someone is arrested on federal charges, DNA is taken and uploaded to the national system.

Theodore Hertzberg, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said the federal investigation began in March, when the FBI received a tip that Livsey had used a cryptocurrency account to purchase “depictions of minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”

“The investigation revealed that Livsey transferred a sum of Bitcoin to two dark web websites known to offer access to child sex abuse material in exchange for a subscription fee,” said Hertzberg, who joined DeKalb officials at the Wednesday news conference.