A man whose DNA linked him to the 2001 rape of a 14-year old Englewood girl, leading him to plead guilty to several felony charges, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.

Robert S. Bernardi, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and counts of aggravated burglary, gross sexual imposition and kidnapping on April 13. He appeared before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis J. Langer.

Bernardi was linked to the Englewood attack after his DNA was collected during his arrest for an unrelated offense in July.

The victim was sleeping in her bed at her family’s ranch-style home on April 8, 2001. The weather was warm and the windows were open. The attacker removed a screen from a window, entered the room and attacked her, according to police.

Her parents and a sister were asleep during the attack. Another sister was on the phone but did not hear anything, according to police.

A DNA profile, obtained from evidence left at the scene, was entered into the Combined DNA Index System.

The case went cold after police were unable to identify any suspects. In 2003, the prosecutor’s office filed a “John Doe” indictment against the person with the DNA profile found at the scene to keep the statute of limitations from expiring.

Miami County sheriff’s deputies arrested Bernardi on July 2 in connection with the abduction of a 15-year-old girl. He was charged with aggravated menacing and unlawful restraint, according to court records.

But deputies also collected a sample of Bernardi’s DNA, as mandated by a July 1 change in Ohio law. That change expanded DNA testing of those arrested for but not convicted of crimes.

His DNA was entered into the database, which then identified him as the other girl’s assailant, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.