COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a national DNA database listing from Nebraska has led to an arrest in a 2001 rape case in Council Bluffs. Online court records say 50-year-old Mark Sands faces seven charges, including sexual abuse, kidnapping and burglary. His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 15th.

His attorney, Joe Reedy said that Sands is “absolutely innocent” and has pleaded not guilty. Pottawattamie County prosecutors say the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System – CODIS – helped identify Sands, a registered sex offender from a separate case. Nebraska records say Sands was living in Omaha, Neb. Police say a Council Bluffs woman reported in October 2001 that a stranger raped her for hours and tied up her disabled daughter at their home.