Old Law Prevents Rapists from Prosecution
Police now know who the man was that raped a 12-year-old girl at knifepoint more than 20 years ago in Texas. Developments and advances in DNA technology over the years have made his identification possible. However, this man won't even be arrested for the brutal rape of this child all those years ago - he got away with it.
Dewayne Douglas Willis, 47, will soon complete his prison sentence for unrelated theft and burglary charges. Despite the fact that DNA evidence links him to the 1983 child rape, he will be released back into society without ever being arrested, charged, going on trial or serving a day for the child rape.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Willis is one of six men who have recently been identified through DNA analysis or fingerprints as the rapists in sexual assault cold cases. Authorities say that these men cannot be prosecuted for the rapes because of an old statute of limitations that spanned only 5 years in the 1980s.
In Dallas, Texas, DNA evidence has been preserved for decades. The foresight to save this evidence has resulted in 19 innocent people being exonerated and released from prison after being falsely convicted of crimes, but it is also creating a problem. The problem is that the preserved DNA evidence is also incriminating and is helpful in identifying suspects in cold cases – but in some cases nothing can be done about it.
The Dallas police have a problem with how to deal with newly found suspects in old rape cases that have been identified through DNA evidence. District Attorney Craig Watkins notes that this is uncharted territory.
Watkins would like for the rape suspects that have been identified through DNA evidence, but can't be charged because of the statute of limitations, to be required to register as sex offenders and have the rape evidence noted in their criminal histories. However, this could be problematic because the rapists identified through DNA evidence in these old cases have never been arrested or charged with the crimes, let alone found guilty of the rapes.
Victim Vividly Remembers Sexual Attack
Willis' alleged victim, now a mother of three children, describes the brutal rape that happened in October 1983 that haunts her to this day.
She says that the man came through an unlocked and partially opened window of her home at 2:30 a.m. When she awoke, she saw him holding a steak knife and a flashlight and he ordered her to take her shirt off. He told her not to scream or he would hurt her.
The victim says that he then forced her into bed and slapped and hit her in the head when she resisted. He raped her and then demanded that she give him all her money.
She gave him $36 and then he forced her to show him where the car keys were. He loaded a television and stereo into the family's car then tied her up and left. The sound of the car leaving woke her mother and stepfather.
She recalls waiting on a gurney in the hallway because the hospital was full. She was in so much pain from the attack that a rape exam could not immediately be performed.
Opening Sexual Assault Cold Case Files
This summer the victim read an article in the Dallas Morning News about the Sexual Assault Cold Case Program. Police Sgt. Pat Welsh had begun reopening old cases in which rape exams and DNA evidence had been preserved.
In a Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences lab in Dallas, banks of freezers hold thousands of evidence samples dating back to 1981. In most jurisdictions across the country, such evidence was discarded long ago. Dallas County decided to save and preserve the evidence and it has helped Sgt. Welsh solve dozens of cold cases.
When Willis' alleged victim called Sgt. Welsh, he had the DNA evidence from her rape exam checked against a database of DNA profiles collected from convicted felons. The match to Willis was found.
The victim met with Sgt. Welsh at the Dallas police headquarters and showed her Willis' file. Willis is reportedly a career burglar with a lengthy rap sheet who has once punched a prison guard in the face. He had been paroled in October 1983, just days before the rape.
The sergeant explained to the victim that this was the man who had raped her, but due to the statute of limitations, there was nothing they could do about it.
An Apology, But No Punishment
Willis is scheduled to be released from prison for unrelated crimes on October 18. When a prison official reportedly asked him about the rape, he initially did not remember the attack. Later during the same interview, he began to weep and told the official he would like to apologize to the victim.
The victim says that she would like to give him the opportunity to apologize, but probably won't because visiting him in prison would mean revealing her name to him.
The Texas statute of limitations for rape was eliminated in 1996 for cases with suspect DNA. However, this won't help police, prosecutors and victims in older cases. The U.S. Constitution states that people accused of crimes can only be held accountable based on laws in place at the time the crime was committed.
