Inaccurate rape case closed in Texas

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CONROE, Texas, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Texas' Montgomery County have officially closed a 20-year-old rape case, despite having sent the wrong man to prison for 18 years.

While recent DNA tests and a confession from Charles Mumphrey revealed he raped a 13-year-old girl in 1986 in Conroe, Texas, prosecutors have closed the case since the statute of limitations for the crime has expired, the Houston Chronicle said.

On Tuesday, Mumphrey confessed to having committed the rape and offered his apologies to those affected by his actions.

"I'm really sorry for what happened to the girl and I apologize to her and her family," Mumphrey said. "I have two daughters myself. If I could ever replay that night, it would have never happened."

On Aug. 12, 1986, a judge sentenced Mumphrey's older brother, Arthur, to 35 years in prison for being one of the two suspects in the rape but recent DNA tests cleared him of those charges.

Another man, Steve Thomas, implicated Arthur Mumphrey in the rape as part of an agreement for a lesser sentence.

The Chronicle said that Charles Mumphrey admitted he had not spoken with his brother since Arthur was released from prison on Jan. 26, 2006.