Massachusetts’ deadline to prosecute rape cases will no longer be one of the strictest in the nation under a bill Gov. Maura Healey pledged to sign into law.
State law currently bars nearly all rape prosecutions involving cases with adult victims after 15 years, making it difficult to charge someone after that deadline even in cases where new evidence is likely to lead to a conviction. The new law would ensure that if DNA is matched to a suspect after that 15-year window, prosecutors could file charges indefinitely.
Healey pushed to revise the prosecution deadline for rape as part of her annual budget proposal in January. The move came after WBUR and ProPublica found that as many as 47 other states allow more time to charge rapes or similar sexual assaults than Massachusetts.
Many of those states extended their deadlines in recent decades as DNA technology helped solve old cases and as evidence mounted that police across the nation had failed to fully investigate rape cases.
Healey’s proposal survived the legislature’s monthslong budget process. She announced Wednesday that she’d sign the $63.4 billion budget and has until July 11 to approve it. It would go into effect as soon as it’s signed.
“Today, DNA evidence can provide new answers years later, and our laws should reflect that reality,” Healey said in a statement. “This change gives survivors another path to justice while helping law enforcement hold violent offenders accountable.”
Prosecutors must still file charges within the existing 15-year deadline if a match is made within that timeframe, as they were required to under the old law. The new law could open the door to prosecution for cases for which the statute of limitations has not yet passed.
In Massachusetts, legislators have tried unsuccessfully to change the rape statute of limitations every session since 2011, WBUR found. Defense attorneys opposed those bills, saying a longer deadline risked violating the rights of the accused.
Rape survivors have worked with state Rep. Adam Scanlon, a Democrat, for the last five years to create a DNA exception, he said. They joined the effort because they were frustrated that they could no longer pursue justice after the deadline, even when new evidence emerged.
”It gives them hope in the future to ensure that no one has to suffer the same indignities,” Scanlon said, adding, “This was a long process driven by survivors.”
Some survivors whose cases were too old to be prosecuted pushed for the change. One of them was Louise, who was the focus of WBUR and ProPublica’s investigation. WBUR doesn’t identify victims of sexual assault without their permission and agreed to identify Louise only by her middle name.
In October 2005, she was raped and repeatedly stabbed by a man who gave her a ride in Boston, according to police and court records. Seventeen years later, a DNA match identified an area man as a suspect.
DNA evidence also linked that suspect to another rape. Suffolk County prosecutors charged the man in both cases in 2022, but had to drop the cases because the statute of limitations had expired. He maintained his innocence. Had this law been enacted a few years ago, Louise could have seen the suspect in her case face trial.
“It really was devastating,” Louise said. “ I never fathomed that time lapsing would be an issue.”
Louise testified before state legislators in support of the DNA exception after her interview with WBUR. She said she’s relieved it will become law.
“It’s nice to have the government move in the right direction, which builds a sense of trust, a sense of safety — and justice,” Louise said.
