'Eliminate Statute Of Limitations' For Rape, Ohio Politicians Say

Ohio's current and former attorneys general joined together to call for an end of the statute of limitations on rape cases.

More than half of U.S. states have eliminated their statutes of limitation on rape cases. Ohio's current rape law has a statute of limitation of 20 years for prosecuting cases. Only murder has no statute of limitation in the Buckeye State.

“We can’t let a rapist run out the clock on justice,” current Attorney General Dave Yost said. He and six of his predecessors wrote a letter to Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof and Speaker of the House Larry Householder, urging the state's General Assembly to strike down the statute.

Yost's letter was signed by a mix of former Democrat and Republican attorneys general, including Richard Cordray, Nancy Rogers, Jim Petro, Betty Montgomery and Lee Fisher. Governor Mike DeWine has also urged the General Assembly to amend the state's position on rape cases.

The letter argues that advancements in science and a shift in culture have changed the "environment" for prosecuting rape cases. However, frequently, there are delays in persons reporting rape cases. That delay is often the result of stigma or acutely felt societal pressure.

"No one delays reporting a robbery," the letter reads.

The attorneys general argue that accounting for an extended passage of time in a case will be a burden felt more strongly by the prosecution. However, a rape can have a lifetime of impact on the survivor and their loved ones. Yost and his predecessors want to be able to help survivors find justice, whenever they choose to come forward.

“The profound invasion of the person makes rape like no other crime – a violation of the body, the mind and the soul. We now know that the trauma associated with a rape has a lifetime impact on a survivor, making it a different sort of offense than theft or dealing drugs or extortion,” the letter reads. “That trauma is often a barrier for a survivor to even report the crime. Societal pressures also operate to discourage contemporaneous reports. No one delays reporting a robbery.”