COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 23 (UPI) -- Attorneys for an Ohio man jailed 18 years for raping a child say he is closer to freedom after testing determined his DNA didn't match evidence in the case.
Inmate Robert McClendon, 52, of Columbus, has steadfastly maintained his innocence in the 1990 rape of a 10-year-old girl, and now sophisticated tests conducted on the girl's underwear have conclusively ruled him out as the perpetrator, the Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday.
McClendon, however, remained housed at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he was reviewing the DNA report and would confer with the Ohio Innocence Project, a University of Cincinnati-based legal clinic that represents McClendon, and the girl's mother.
The Dispatch said McClendon's case was highlighted in a five-part series the newspaper ran in January that it said exposed shortcomings in Ohio's prisoner DNA-testing program. The newspaper identified 30 cases it said were prime candidates for more sophisticated modern DNA testing.
