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.
