LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Thirty years after first reporting her rape to the police, an 88-year-old woman has answers in her case. Henry Crawford, a convicted rapist, has been charged with the crime.
In front of a judge eight years ago, Crawford was convicted of rape among other charges. The horrific crime happened in 1990. He was sentenced to 200 years in prison.
Now, Crawford has been indicted on new charges including an assault and rape said to have happened in 1983.
The victim waited decades for answers in her case.
"She was 52 years old at the time and its quite amazing that at 88 years old somebody was able to deliver the news- that they could give her the answer,” prosecutor Ryane Conroy said.
Detectives said this rape happened before they had the technology allowing for DNA analysis of "stranger rapes".
But it became one of the thousands of DNA rape kits lost in Kentucky's untested backlog left untouched for decades.
"For far too many Kentuckians' justice has alluded them for far too long,” Attorney General Andy Beshear said.
Beshear set a goal of testing all Kentucky rape kits by the end of this year.
Detectives said they will stay vigilant- working to solve this case and others.
"To this lady and to all of the victims- we can't fix what happened and we can't fix that there was a backlog but we can say from this point forward that we care and we will be part of the solution," LMPD detective Lt. Allen said.
Crawford is charged with assault, wanton endangerment and rape. He will be arraigned on the new charges in court on Monday.