INDIANA
WNDU
[with video]
By: Megan Hickey
Last year, a 39-year-old Indiana man confessed to raping an Indianapolis nursing student back in 2005. But nine years after the incident, the victim, Jenny Wendt Ewing, couldn’t press charges thanks to Indiana’s 5-year statute of limitations.
“I feel he was asking for help,” Ewing told NewsCenter16. “I’m not angry with him. I’m angry with the system.”
When lawmakers heard Ewing’s story, they pushed to pass legislation this spring that would close that loophole.
The changes in that amendment, now known as “Jenny’s Law,” goes into effect this month.
“Her story made it clear that there are different things that are going on that may increase the need for more time in order to prosecute cases,” explained Aimee Herring, Lead Deputy Prosecutor, Special Victims Unit of the St. Joseph Co. Prosecutors Office.
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