CHICAGO — After serving more than 12 years in prison, DNA testing has exonerated a Chicago man of a rape conviction.
Dean Cage, 41, was convicted and sentenced to 40 years for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 1994, despite claims that he was home at the time of the attack.
Cage was linked to the rape and arrested when the victim identified him as her assailant and DNA testing was not available at the time of this trial, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Cage also claimed that the victim contracted venereal diseases from her attacker and that he had none.
In late 2006 however, the New York-based Innocence Project persuaded prosecutors to conduct DNA tests in the case, the Sun-Times reported.
Five rounds of tests later, state attorney spokesman John Gorman said results received Saturday ruled out Cage as the attacker, leaving the case open, according to the paper.
Cage was released from prison late Tuesday and plans a news conference with family members in Chicago.
He is the 29th person in Illinois to be exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project.
