Wrongly convicted man faces new rape charge

George Perrot, 50, was jailed for life for rape in 1987 photo: SPRINGFIELD POLICE DEPT[/caption]

A man whose rape conviction was quashed after he had served 30 years in jail has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman this year, reports say.

George Perrot, 50, is due to appear in court accused of rape and other charges, the Republican newspaper reports. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges in relation to an incident on 4 January in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Mr Perrot is being held without bail until his case is heard on Monday. The allegations against Mr Perrot come three years after he was freed from prison by a judge who ruled he was wrongly convicted of rape in 1987.

Decades-long legal battle

George Perrot was arrested in 1985, aged 17, accused of raping 78-year-old Mary Prekop at her home in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, but was freed in 2016 after the Supreme Court exonerated him because of flawed evidence. The prosecution’s case rested on faulty FBI analysis of a single hair found at the crime scene, the court ruled. Mr Perrot’s release, after a decades-long legal battle to clear his name, generated media attention worldwide.

New allegations

The new charges against him allege rape, open and gross lewdness, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer, according to the Republican. The newspaper reports that police found Mr Perrot lying unconscious on the ground, with his face between a partially naked and unconscious woman’s legs. When interviewed by police, the woman claimed she did not consent to sex with Mr Perrot, it reports. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness, she reportedly told police, was snorting some powder she claims Mr Perrot gave her. Source: BBC]]>