COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General David Yost and five former attorneys general have joined a call to eliminate statutes of limitations on bringing rape charges in the state.
Yost, a Republican, says rape should be treated like murder, which has no limits on when charges can be brought. Current law would generally limit rape charges to six years after the crime.
“The profound invasion of the person makes rape like no other crime – a violation of the body, the mind and the soul. We now know that the trauma associated with a rape has a lifetime impact on a survivor, making it a different sort of offense than theft or dealing drugs or extortion,” the letterreads.
Yost and the former attorneys general, including Republican Betty Montgomery and Democrat Nancy Rogers, asked lawmakers to make the change in a May 31 letter.
They followed a similar request last month by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, made in light of the scandal at Ohio State University involving a team doctor accused of abusing dozens of male students decades ago.
