COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- An Ohio man who maintained his innocence of child rape as he sat behind bars for 18 years was ordered freed Monday by a judge swayed by new DNA evidence.
Robert McClendon, 52, of Columbus -- wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed, "Hello, truth. Hello, freedom" -- simply said, "Thank you," after Franklin County Judge Charles A. Schneider ruled the evidence showed he did not abduct and rape a 10-year-old relative in 1990, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
"Eighteen years is an awfully long period of time, but nonetheless, the ship got righted. I wish him the best of luck," the judge told the newspaper afterward.
County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said authorities would try to determine who was responsible for the attack on the girl.
"Hopefully, after all this, he lives with his family and rejoices," O'Brien said. "I don't want anybody in jail who doesn't belong there."
McClendon, who was cleared with the help of The Innocence Project, had been sentenced to 10 years to life in prison.
