Senate Bill 94, known as Jenny's Law, has been celebrated by some since it passed the Legislature and was signed late last month by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
The law closes a loophole that enabled Bart Bareither to avoid prosecution after he confessed last year to the rape of Jenny Wendt in 2004, when Bareither was a teaching assistant at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis and Wendt was a student there.
Authorities could not charge Bareither with the crime because 10 years had passed between the rape and his confession, and Indiana had a five-year statute of limitations for most sexual assault cases.
Jenny's Law enables prosecutors to file charges anytime after the five-year period in cases where DNA evidence is discovered or implicates a suspect, video or photographic evidence is found, or a confession is made.
The legislation of these exceptions to Indiana's statute of limitations in sexual assault cases is clearly a step in the right direction. But it doesn't go nearly far enough.
The state's legislators should have been bold enough to strike down the statute of limitations altogether, as more than 20 states have done.
Within the past two years, both Kansas and Texas, pressed by individuals who had been raped and victimized again by statutes of limitations, have passed laws eliminating limitations in rape cases.
Indiana should have done so, as well.
This is not to say that statutes of limitations are patently unfair. In relation to most crimes, they are important to protect the rights of the accused and to spur those who believe they have been victimized to step forward while evidence is fresh.
Historically, in the United States, homicide is the only crime without a statute of limitations. Rape should be added to the list because the crime induces profound emotional complications exacerbated by lingering social stigmas. Both factors often make it difficult for victims to remember exactly what happened, and to muster the courage to report the crime. Decades might pass before a victim comes to grips with her rape and is ready to pursue charges.
Jenny Wendt Ewing (her married name) was silenced for a decade by her fear of Bareither, her concern that no one would believe her and her anxiety about becoming known as a rape victim. Last year, when she learned of Bariether's confession and the fact that he could not be prosecuted, Wendt Ewing launched a crusade to have Indiana's time limitations on rape prosecutions struck down.
Indiana's General Assembly made a move in that direction but fell short of fully liberating victims to pursue charges against their attackers regardless of the passing of time.
The Legislature should take up the issue again next year and completely fix the law by abolishing the statute of limitations for rape cases in Indiana.