Roger W. Reddick Jr. peeks around a door at his March 30 arraignment on rape charges in a screen capture from WBZ news.

The rapist tracked down in March after eluding police for more than 20 years has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 10 to 12 years in state prison.

Roger W. Reddick Jr., 41, of Cambridge, entered his plea Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, admitting to breaking into a home and attacking a then-13-year-old girl on Oct. 18, 2000, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Cambridge police commissioner Christine Elow said. 

Police had a fingerprint and boxer shorts from the scene of the crime, but those didn’t provide enough conclusive evidence to find a match during the initial investigation. In September 2022, a cold-case unit that Ryan launched in March 2019 began a renewed examination, and technological advances allowed identification of a major DNA profile on the boxers. Authorities said Reddick was the source.

“This is an example of how dogged detective work and diligent prosecution can ensure justice and provide accountability,” Elow said. “We will always be here for survivors and will never give up trying to find and prosecute the people behind such a horrific crime.”

After being held in custody since his arraignment March 30, Riddick pleaded guilty to three counts of rape of a child with force, and associate justice James Budreau imposed the prison term and three years of probation to follow.

Amory Street resident Riddick was a stranger to the girl, who lived less than a half-mile away at the time. As a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School student athlete named a Boston Globe Greater Boston League Track All-Star for 2000, he could have been able to sprint home before police arrived, eluding detection for this crime but going on to become known to Cambridge police and to forces at least as far as Revere and Wilmington for charges such as unarmed robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of property damage.

“For twenty-three years, the victim in this case has lived with the mystery of who came into her bedroom and violently sexually assaulted her. Today, that woman, now 37 years old and living outside of Massachusetts, had the opportunity to hear the defendant admit to what he had done to her,” Ryan said. “She was able, through her statement to the court, to describe the impact of these events and the defendant’s actions on her life … Even though decades have passed, Roger Reddick has now been held accountable for his conduct.”