Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has pledged to sign a budget bill that includes a provision to extend the statute of limitations for rape cases involving DNA evidence. This extension will permit indefinite prosecution when DNA matches a suspect after the current 15-year window.

Massachusetts state law currently prevents nearly all rape prosecutions involving adult victims after 15 years. The new law would enable prosecutors to file charges without a time limit if a DNA match identifies a suspect after this 15-year period has elapsed. Governor Healey announced she would sign the $63.4 billion budget.

Governor Healey included this revision to the prosecution deadline for rape in her annual budget proposal in January. "Today, DNA evidence can provide new answers years later, and our laws should reflect that reality," Healey said. She added that this change gives survivors "another path to justice while helping law enforcement hold violent offenders accountable."

If a DNA match occurs within the existing 15-year timeframe, prosecutors are still required to file charges by that deadline. Previous bills aimed at extending this deadline faced opposition from defense attorneys, who argued a longer deadline risked violating the rights of the accused.

State Representative Adam Scanlon stated that rape survivors have worked with him over the last five years to develop a DNA exception. "This was a long process driven by survivors," Scanlon said. He added that the change "gives them hope in the future to ensure that no one has to suffer the same indignities."

Louise, a victim identified in press accounts, was raped and repeatedly stabbed by a man who gave her a ride in Boston in October 2005. Seventeen years after the assault, in October 2022, a DNA match identified an area man as a suspect. DNA evidence also linked the suspect to another rape.

Suffolk County prosecutors charged the man in both cases in 2022. However, the cases were subsequently dropped because the statute of limitations had already expired. "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.

Why It Matters

The proposed legislative change in Massachusetts addresses the limitations of the state's current statute of limitations for rape cases. An investigation by WBUR and ProPublica found that at least 47 other states allow more time to charge rapes or similar sexual assaults than Massachusetts. The law is set to go into effect as soon as it is signed by the governor, who has until July 11 to approve the budget.