SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Prosecutors say a woman whose rape claim in 1998 led to the conviction of a 54-year-old Springfield man has admitted she lied to cover up an extramarital affair.
Greene County prosecutor Darrell Moore called the case outrageous and appeared at a news conference Thursday with the wrongly convicted man to say he was sorry.
Armand Villasana was already exonerated in 2000, when his conviction was overturned based on DNA tests.
Since then, DNA evidence from the scene matched up with another man and the resulting investigation prompted the woman this month to tell prosecutors she had made up the story.
Moore said he cannot prosecute the woman for perjury because the statute of limitations has expired.
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