Police in Boulder, Colorado, say DNA evidence links an Air Force Academy junior to the alleged sexual assault of a fellow cadet in that city in November.

Daniel Ryerson, 21, faces charges of second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault of a victim who is physically helpless and incapable of appraising his or her conduct, according to a warrant for his arrest filed Jan. 13 in Boulder County District Court.

Ryerson was booked into the jail there Jan. 16 and later released on a $20,000 bond.

The 14-page warrant provides a glimpse into the November night the crime allegedly took place:

Ryerson and the alleged victim told police they decided to travel to Boulder on the evening of Nov. 1 to attend some house parties and meet up with some people Ryerson knows. They arrived around 8:30 p.m., checked into a hotel, split a bottle of wine and each drank a hard cider, then headed out.

They attended multiple parties over the evening — Ryerson describes going to three parties two whereas the alleged victim recounts in the court documents only two.

The woman told police she woke up the next morning in the hotel room with a memory of being sexually assaulted that she at first thought was a bad dream. Her last clear memory was of finishing a drink Ryerson fixed for her at the last party, she said. After experiencing pain in her private areas, the woman began to believe she'd been drugged and raped.

One witness at the party later told police she had seen Ryerson leading the woman, stumbling, into the bathroom, where they remained for about 20 minutes.

Back in Colorado Springs, both Ryerson and the woman went to the hospital. The woman underwent a sexual assault medical exam that revealed trauma.

During a follow-up interview with police on Nov. 20, Ryerson denied having sex with the alleged victim and voluntarily submitted DNA samples.

Police submitted those samples and evidence from the sexual assault exam to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation lab; the results came back Jan. 12.

DNA profile developed from the exam "matches the DNA profile developed from Ryerson," according to the warrant.

A court hearing has been set for Feb. 19, online court records show.

"We are cooperating fully with the Boulder Police Department and allowing their judicial process to take its course," Air Force Academy spokesman Lt. Col. Brus Vidal said in the email statement this week. "The Academy will continue to closely monitor the situation and cooperate with Boulder [police] while, at the same time, providing support to the cadet during the arrest and investigation process."

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