DNA tests exonerate Ohio man wrongly convicted of rape

DNA tests exonerate Ohio man wrongly convicted of rape

Associated Press

Judge frees convicted Ohio rapist after DNA test

By STEPHEN MAJORS

2008 08 11

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge freed a man Monday who had spent nearly 18 years in prison on a charge of raping a 10-year-old girl after a lab re-examining cases across Ohio showed that his DNA profile didn’t match evidence from the crime scene.

Prosecutors said McClendon took a 10-year-old relative from her backyard, blindfolded her, drove her to a house and raped her. The victim reported the rape the next day and was taken to a hospital.

McClendon was convicted largely on the victim’s testimony, Bergeron said. There was no physical evidence to tie him to the crime, she said’.(Full Story)
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Comment by F4L: It is atrocious that Robert McClendon, exonerated after spending 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, is still being branded a rapist.

Even though he was convicted for rape, he is not and never was a rapist!

Update 2008 08 12: 

This link is relevant – FBI Rape Statistics and DNA Testing

From that web page:

When reading the report from which the excerpts shown below were taken, consider that the FBI program of DNA testing of rapists didn’t begin until 1989, and that therefore it is very likely that about 25 [percent] or perhaps as many as 40 percent of men convicted before 1989 of and serving time for rape are innocent.

Consider also that the DNA testing program took some time to come into full swing, so that even after 1989 it was quite likely that innocent men (as per DNA evidence) would still have been convicted of rape, although somewhat steadily declining numbers of them.

Consider further that the FBI doesn’t become involved in all rape cases, only in those that are referred to it.  So, the actual number of innocent men imprisoned for rape must be far, far higher than one is led to believe by the excerpts.

The question still remains as to how many of the “rapists” whose DNA is a match with that of the semen found in or on their victims actually had consensual sex.  After all, even a wife can claim that she has been raped by her husband, if at any time she decides to do that, regardless of whether the sexual intercourse she had with her husband was consensual or not.

In the end, nothing matters other than what the woman says. And, as they say, “women don’t lie.”  Obviously, what they say is wrong. (In the US, there are an estimated 520,000 false rape allegations a year — 98.1% of all reported cases.  — Eeva Sodhi, Debunking Domestic Violence Statistics; Rape)

(Full Story)