A stiff sentence was handed down Tuesday in Frederick County Circuit Court to a Hagerstown man. Najarred Walker, 28, was given life in prison, plus 10 years for raping a 16-year-old girl along the Carroll Creek Linear Park nearly eight years ago.

Walker was convicted in March of 1st- and 2nd-degree rape, 3rd-degree sex offense and 2nd-degree assault.

"We're very happy with that sentence. It's put him in jail for life plus 10, which assures that he'll never get out of prison," says Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith.

The rape happened on November 1st, 2004, as the victim was on her way to pick up her younger sister.  Police say she was grabbed from behind. Walker put his hand over her mouth and told her he would kill her if he didn't comply.

Smith says the authorities couldn't identify a suspect after the rape occurred in 2004.  But a few years later, when Walker was living in Tennessee, he was required to turn over a DNA sample to police who were investigating other crimes. Walker had been convicted of several offenses, including attempted robbery, aggravated assault, and drunken driving from 2008 to 2010. The sample was entered into an FBI database called CODIS (Combined DNA Index System). It matched the evidence collected at the scene in Frederick.

"This DNA database maintained by the FBI on a national level is critically important to solving crimes," says Smith.

He also says the victim was minding her own business when Walker approached her from behind. "Those people are actually the worst of the worst, and that why they get  life sentences.  And this guy got a life sentence plus ten years that will effectively put in jail forever, and that's where he belongs," Smith says.