The case involving a man who allegedly raped a Penn State student at knifepoint on the Penn State golf course almost 26 years ago moved forward on Tuesday.

Kurt Rillema made his first remote appearance in a Centre County court for his preliminary arraignment from a prison in Michigan. He has been held there since pleading no contest in a similar case. He will serve 10 to 15 years in prison.

Rillema was charged in April 2023 after investigators linked the 54-year-old man to the rape of a 19-year-old in 2000 and a similar attack at a Michigan golf course in 1999.

The woman was jogging near the 18th hole of the Blue Course around 8:15 p.m., when a man approached and asked for a Band-Aid, according to a criminal complaint. He then put a knife to her throat and dragged her to an area covered by trees, punched her, and raped her.

The DNA sample from a rape kit was uploaded to a federal database and matched with the Michigan case from 1999 in 2004. A Penn State detective filed a criminal complaint against an unknown male, referred to as “John Doe,” in 2011, using the same DNA profile to keep the statute of limitations open.

The case was reopened in 2023 after nearly a decade with no leads, thanks to Penn State police detective Nick Sproveri. He collaborated with the law enforcement in charge of the Michigan case.

Genetic genealogy results in 2023 determined that the suspect was likely Rillema or one of his two brothers, per Statecollege.com. All three were investigated, and detectives determined it was most likely Rillema. He is now charged with felony counts of rape, sexual assault, and aggravated indecent assault, and misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, unlawful restraint, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.