Sharyn Peal wanted to get the attention of state lawmakers as she spoke before the Assembly Judiciary Committee in early 1997. The discussion concerned whether Nevada's statute of limitations for sexual assault charges, which then stood at four years, should be extended by another three.
Peal, who was raped Aug. 4, 1992, after an unknown attacker broke into her Carson City home, realized that the statute of limitations in her case already had run out. The perpetrator was beyond the law. But appalled that the four-year time limit for criminal prosecution of sexual assault was the same as that for grand theft auto, Peal hoped to shock legislators into action.
"I only saw him for about three seconds," she told committee members in reference to her assailant, "and three of you fit his description."
Heads snapped up, jaws dropped slightly. And in short order the Legislature voted to erase, rather than simply extend, the statute of limitations in sexual assault cases. State law now allows authorities to charge and prosecute suspected rapists no matter how much time elapses after an alleged attack, provided the incident is reported within four years of the date it occurred.
Talk of the amended law has resurfaced since the arrest Sunday of Dennis N. Rabbitt, 42, in New Mexico following a four-month nationwide manhunt. Rabbitt, a former Las Vegas resident, is considered a suspect in a series of sexual assaults in Henderson from December 1991 to September 1992. He also faces charges stemming from more than two dozen rapes dating to the late 1980s around St. Louis, where he is accused of being the "South Side Rapist."
An assailant dubbed the "Green Valley rapist" shook the Las Vegas Valley in the early 1990s, committing as many as seven assaults. If authorities link Rabbitt to those attacks, he would not face charges because six years have passed since the last incident and the amended statute of limitations cannot be applied retroactively.
But knowing that someone who now commits a sexual assault can be charged for as long as he's alive reassures advocates of rape victims such as Peal, 50, deputy chief of the state Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
"The victims never get over the rape. Why should the rapist get over the possibility of prosecution?" said Peal, who belongs to the nonprofit group Sexual Assault Response Advocates in Carson City.
Renata Cirri, executive director of Community Action Against Rape in Las Vegas, added that the open-ended statute encourages victims to go to authorities.
"The way it is now, just because this thing happened a long time ago, doesn't mean it can't be prosecuted. And that's really an advantage because we're going to be able to take a rapist off the streets," Cirri said.
Under varying circumstances, 14 other states nationwide place no statute of limitations on the filing of sexual assault charges. Arizona has a limit of seven years, California six years and Utah four years. Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska have the lowest limit at three years. South Carolina and Wyoming impose no statute of limitations on any criminal prosecution.
Murder and rape are the only crimes in Nevada without a statute of limitations. In cases of theft, robbery, burglary, forgery and arson, charges must be filed within four years. All other felonies have a three-year limit. Gross misdemeanors carry a two-year limit and simple misdemeanors a one-year limit.
The development of DNA testing has aided authorities in tracking rapists, and the amended statute of limitations should help them in closing more cases, according to Lt. Tom Monahan, head of Metro Police's sexual assault and abuse section. The department handles about 200 sexual assault cases a month.
While police may solve more rapes given more time, however, the job of convicting alleged perpetrators has become no less difficult for prosecutors, said Ben Graham, Clark County's chief deputy district attorney.
Two years ago Graham, who doubles as the legislative representative for the Nevada District Attorneys Association, lobbied for the four-year reporting restriction on rape cases. The intent is to emphasize the importance of early reporting in solving and prosecuting sexual assaults. As time passes, Graham noted, the victim's memory may fade and crucial details can be forgotten.
"From a prosecutor's standpoint, the longer the cases go, the harder they are to prosecute," he said.
Although Rabbitt will not be charged in the Henderson rapes, local police could have arrested him on a fugitive warrant obtained by Missouri authorities. Evidence linking Rabbitt to the local attacks could be used against him during the sentencing portion of his upcoming trials.
Rabbitt was captured Sunday in the Albuquerque, N.M., motel room he was sharing with a 15-year-old girl. He waived extradition on Tuesday.
He was returned to Missouri on Wednesday and taken to St. Louis where he was charged with 40 counts stemming from at least 13 attacks. He is also accused of rapes in St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri, and in nearby Madison County, Ill.
If convicted, Rabbitt will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
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