Dana Beatty survived a horrific rape that took decades to solve.
asserted
that → survive → decades
After 34 years, authorities were finally able to identify the masked intruder who pressed a knife to her neck, wrapped her face in tape, lashed her to a bed and assaulted her for hours on Aug. 1, 1989.
asserted
who → identify → Aug.
DNA evidence pointed to a local doctor who turned out to be someone Beatty knew.
asserted
Beatty → point → doctor
But Beatty’s assailant couldn’t be charged with rape.
asserted
assailant → charge → rape
Authorities told her that the statute of limitations for the crime — which was six years in Ohio at the time of the assault — had long since run out, and a 2015 update to the state’s statute didn’t revive the case.
asserted
update → tell → case
“Disbelief” is how Beatty, 67, described her reaction to the development.
asserted
Beatty → describe → development
“I do not understand why there would even be a statute of limitations,” she told “Dateline” in her first interview about the issue.
asserted
she → understand → issue
“I don’t understand what the value in that is.”
asserted
value → understand → that
What happened to Beatty highlights an issue faced by adult survivors of sexual violence across the country: More than 30 states have statutes of limitations for the most serious charges of sexual assault — a crime that is generally described as rape but is prosecuted under different names in different states, according to data gathered this year by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a nonprofit that tracks the issue and advocates for victims.
uncertain
that → happen → victims
The data, which was verified and analyzed by NBC News, shows that time limits vary dramatically from state to state.
asserted
limits → verify → state
Some states impose statutes of limitations of a decade or less with few exceptions, while others eliminate time limits entirely in some circumstances.
asserted
others → impose → circumstances
Calls for change
Several legal experts and advocates believe statutes of limitations for all or many such types of assaults should be eliminated.
asserted
statutes → believe → assaults
Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a former prosecutor who is a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, is alarmed by the dramatic variation across the country.
asserted
who → alarm → country
“It should cause anyone to have some concern about whether or not there would be accountability,” she said.
asserted
she → cause → concern
“If you have individuals who are able to perpetrate crimes in the ‘right’ location, where if you get past six years of looking over your shoulder there’s no way you would be held accountable, that is quite alarming.”
asserted
that → have → shoulder
To Stefan Turkheimer, vice president of public policy with RAINN, the variations can leave survivors agonizing over “math problems” instead of seeking justice or dealing with the aftermath of a crime that has devastating consequences.
asserted
that → leave → consequences
“They should be able to concentrate on their own healing rather than a race to the courthouse to see whether or not the doors will be locked for them,” he said.
asserted
he → concentrate → them
“It is an unfair situation that when so many survivors come forward, they find that the time limit for justice has expired and that there’s nothing that they can do and that this person that harmed them will continue to go free.”
asserted
that → come → them
Beatty immediately reported the rape to authorities, and investigators spent years trying to solve the crime.
asserted
investigators → report → crime
They even investigated a local police officer who early on was considered a potential suspect, according to Charlie Beaver, a former Cincinnati police detective.
uncertain
who → investigate → Beaver
But that officer had a “perfect” alibi, Beaver said, and investigators were unable to identify her attacker.
asserted
investigators → have → attacker
Margaret Drew, an associate professor of law at the University of Massachusetts who specializes in gender violence, said it’s not unusual for survivors to take years to report what happened to them.
asserted
what → specialize → them
She said she was struck by the “ambivalence” some legislatures display about rape survivors through statutes of limitations.
asserted
legislatures → say → limitations
“We now know that sexual assault is a significant, life-changing event for the survivors and has serious psychological and physical consequences,” she said.
asserted
she → know → consequences
“Why doesn’t everyone just agree to remove the statute of limitations?”
asserted
everyone → agree → limitations
In interviews with NBC News, legal experts and advocates echoed that point.
asserted
experts → echo → point
Some said there should be no time limits on any case involving nonconsensual sex; Hardaway said they should be eliminated for the most severe sexual assault charges, which can include the use of force or the threat of force or cases in which victims are incapacitated.
asserted
victims → say → which
But Nathan Rouse, an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, cautioned that statutes of limitations act as deadlines for authorities to act on allegations.
asserted
authorities → caution → allegations
That can be crucial, he said, because investigations and prosecutions have historically been “sluggish, delayed or fully abandoned” for those victims.
asserted
investigations → say → victims
“Discarding deadlines altogether is not a way to incentivize timely prosecutions of sexual assault cases,” he said.
asserted
he → discard → cases
Factoring in DNA evidence
Some who support eliminating time limits pointed to DNA evidence as a crucial tool that has transformed investigations and prosecutions.
asserted
that → factor → investigations
DNA, they said, can blunt evidentiary issues like faded memories, unavailable witnesses or lost evidence.
asserted
they → say → memories
Such issues — along with what Turkheimer described as “court efficiency” — are the reasons statutes of limitations exist, they said.
asserted
they → describe → limitations
But no state has a time limit on the most serious crime, murder.
asserted
state → have → crime
And most states have eliminated them for certain sexual assault crimes involving children, according to Turkheimer.
uncertain
states → eliminate → Turkheimer
Renee Williams, CEO of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said, “I don’t know why most states would not say, if there’s DNA, it blows the statute of limitations out of the water” for sexual assault prosecutions.
asserted
it → say → prosecutions
While nearly a dozen states eliminate time limits if DNA evidence is used to identify a suspect, six offer limited extensions of five years or less.
asserted
six → eliminate → years
An extra three years can get added if DNA evidence comes into play.
asserted
evidence → add → play
According to the Legislative Services Division of Montana’s Legislature, lawmakers created the aggravated charge in 2017 but never addressed the crime’s statute of limitations in committee hearings.
uncertain
lawmakers → accord → hearings
But the time limit automatically became five years — the “catchall” period for most felony crimes in the state, according to the division.
uncertain
limit → become → division
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
