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December 7, 2009

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Lawmakers may extend statute of limitations for rape charges

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 5:01 a.m.

AB97 was introduced Wednesday by Assemblywoman Jan Evans, D-Sparks, who said she decided to push the bill after reading newspaper accounts of Sharyn Peal's emotional plea.

Peal, raped in her Carson City home in August 1992 by a man who was never caught, applauded the bill.

"It shows we're looking at this crime as a crime different than arson, forgery or robbery," she said. "We're sending a message that it's a very serious crime that we don't want to take lightly."

"Let's face it, everyone knows the guy who raped me has not stopped raping," she added. "But if he was arrested today on another charge, the DA would only have one case he could present to the jury."

Peal had gone public in 1995, a year before the four-year statute of limitations ran out in her case, in hopes of helping authorities catch her attacker. But the deadline passed last August with no arrests or usable leads.

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