Dana Beatty 在一起耗时数十年才告破的恐怖强奸案中幸存。想了解更多案情，请今晚收看“Dateline”节目的“Unmasking the Monster”，东部时间晚上9点/中部时间晚上8点播出。时隔34年，警方终于确认了那名蒙面闯入者的身份，他在1989年8月1日用刀抵住Beatty的脖子，用胶带缠住她的脸，将她捆绑在床上，并对她实施了长达数小时的性侵。
Dana Beatty survived a horrific rape that took decades to solve. For more on the case, tune in to “Unmasking the Monster” on “Dateline” at 9 ET/8 CT tonight. After 34 years, authorities were finally able to identify the masked intruder who pressed a knife to her neck, wrapped her face in tape, lashed her to a bed and assaulted her for hours on Aug. 1, 1989.
DNA证据指向一名当地医生，结果发现此人竟是Beatty的熟人——她最好朋友的丈夫。然而，Beatty的施暴者却无法被以强奸罪起诉。警方告诉她，该罪行的诉讼时效——案发时俄亥俄州规定为六年——早已过期，而2015年该州对诉讼时效的修订并未使该案重获起诉资格。“难以置信”是现年67岁的Beatty对这一进展的反应。“我无法理解为什么会有诉讼时效这种东西，”她在接受“Dateline”就此问题进行的首次采访时表示，“我不明白这有什么价值。”
DNA evidence pointed to a local doctor who turned out to be someone Beatty knew. He was the husband of her best friend. But Beatty’s assailant couldn’t be charged with rape. Authorities told her that the statute of limitations for the crime — which was six years in Ohio at the time of the assault — had long since run out, and a 2015 update to the state’s statute didn’t revive the case. “Disbelief” is how Beatty, 67, described her reaction to the development. “I do not understand why there would even be a statute of limitations,” she told “Dateline” in her first interview about the issue. “I don’t understand what the value in that is.”
Beatty的遭遇凸显了全美成年性暴力幸存者面临的一个问题：根据今年由“强奸、虐待与乱伦全国网络”（RAINN，一个追踪该问题并为受害者发声的非营利组织）收集的数据，超过30个州对最严重的性侵犯指控设有诉讼时效——这种犯罪通常被称为强奸，但在不同州以不同名称被起诉。
What happened to Beatty highlights an issue faced by adult survivors of sexual violence across the country: More than 30 states have statutes of limitations for the most serious charges of sexual assault — a crime that is generally described as rape but is prosecuted under different names in different states, according to data gathered this year by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a nonprofit that tracks the issue and advocates for victims.
经NBC新闻核实和分析的数据显示，各州的时间限制差异巨大。一些州在极少例外情况下设定十年或更短的诉讼时效，而另一些州则在特定情况下完全取消了时间限制。呼吁变革多位法律专家和倡导者认为，应取消所有或大多数此类袭击的诉讼时效。
The data, which was verified and analyzed by NBC News, shows that time limits vary dramatically from state to state. Some states impose statutes of limitations of a decade or less with few exceptions, while others eliminate time limits entirely in some circumstances. Calls for change Several legal experts and advocates believe statutes of limitations for all or many such types of assaults should be eliminated.
艾莎·贝尔·哈达韦曾任检察官，现为俄亥俄州凯斯西储大学法学教授，她对全美各地法律的巨大差异感到震惊。“这理应引起任何人的担忧，让人质疑是否还能实现问责，”她说。“如果有人能在‘合适’的地点实施犯罪，只要躲过六年的风声鹤唳，就再也无法被追究责任，这实在令人不安。”
Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a former prosecutor who is a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, is alarmed by the dramatic variation across the country. “It should cause anyone to have some concern about whether or not there would be accountability,” she said. “If you have individuals who are able to perpetrate crimes in the ‘right’ location, where if you get past six years of looking over your shoulder there’s no way you would be held accountable, that is quite alarming.”
全美强奸、虐待及乱伦全国网络（RAINN）公共政策副总裁斯特凡·特克海默表示，这些差异让幸存者不得不纠结于“数学题”般的时效计算，而非寻求正义或应对那场后果毁灭性的犯罪。“他们本应能专注于自我疗愈，而不是赛跑般冲向法院，看大门是否会为他们紧闭，”他说。“当这么多幸存者站出来时，却发现正义的时限已过，他们无能为力，而伤害他们的人却继续逍遥法外，这是一种不公平的局面。”
To Stefan Turkheimer, vice president of public policy with RAINN, the variations can leave survivors agonizing over “math problems” instead of seeking justice or dealing with the aftermath of a crime that has devastating consequences. “They should be able to concentrate on their own healing rather than a race to the courthouse to see whether or not the doors will be locked for them,” he said. “It is an unfair situation that when so many survivors come forward, they find that the time limit for justice has expired and that there’s nothing that they can do and that this person that harmed them will continue to go free.”
比蒂立即向当局报案，调查人员花费数年试图破案。据前辛辛那提警探查理·比弗透露，他们甚至曾调查一名当地警察，该警官早期曾被视为潜在嫌疑人。但比弗表示，那名警官有“完美”的不在场证明，调查人员始终无法确认凶手身份。
Beatty immediately reported the rape to authorities, and investigators spent years trying to solve the crime. They even investigated a local police officer who early on was considered a potential suspect, according to Charlie Beaver, a former Cincinnati police detective. But that officer had a “perfect” alibi, Beaver said, and investigators were unable to identify her attacker.
马萨诸塞大学法学副教授玛格丽特·德鲁专攻性别暴力研究，她表示，幸存者多年后才报案并不罕见。她指出，一些立法机构通过诉讼时效法条，对强奸幸存者表现出的“矛盾态度”令她深感震撼。“我们现在知道，性侵犯对幸存者而言是重大、改变人生的事件，会造成严重的心理和生理后果，”她说。
Margaret Drew, an associate professor of law at the University of Massachusetts who specializes in gender violence, said it’s not unusual for survivors to take years to report what happened to them. She said she was struck by the “ambivalence” some legislatures display about rape survivors through statutes of limitations. “We now know that sexual assault is a significant, life-changing event for the survivors and has serious psychological and physical consequences,” she said.
“为什么不是所有人都同意取消诉讼时效？”在接受NBC新闻采访时，法律专家和倡导者纷纷呼应这一观点。有人主张，任何涉及非自愿性行为的案件都不应设定时间限制；哈达韦则表示，应取消最严重性侵指控的时效，此类指控可能涉及使用武力、威胁武力，或受害人处于无行为能力状态的案件。但南卡罗来纳大学法学助理教授内森·劳斯警告称，诉讼时效是当局处理指控的最后期限。
“Why doesn’t everyone just agree to remove the statute of limitations?”In interviews with NBC News, legal experts and advocates echoed that point. Some said there should be no time limits on any case involving nonconsensual sex; Hardaway said they should be eliminated for the most severe sexual assault charges, which can include the use of force or the threat of force or cases in which victims are incapacitated. But Nathan Rouse, an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, cautioned that statutes of limitations act as deadlines for authorities to act on allegations.
他表示，这至关重要，因为针对这些受害者的调查和起诉历来“迟缓、拖延或彻底搁置”。“完全取消期限并非激励及时起诉性侵案件的办法，”他说。将DNA证据纳入考量主张取消时效的人士指出，DNA证据是改变调查和起诉格局的关键工具。他们表示，DNA可以消除记忆模糊、证人失联或证据丢失等证据问题。他们称，这些问题——加上特克海默所描述的“法院效率”——正是诉讼时效存在的原因。
That can be crucial, he said, because investigations and prosecutions have historically been “sluggish, delayed or fully abandoned” for those victims. “Discarding deadlines altogether is not a way to incentivize timely prosecutions of sexual assault cases,” he said. Factoring in DNA evidence Some who support eliminating time limits pointed to DNA evidence as a crucial tool that has transformed investigations and prosecutions. DNA, they said, can blunt evidentiary issues like faded memories, unavailable witnesses or lost evidence. Such issues — along with what Turkheimer described as “court efficiency” — are the reasons statutes of limitations exist, they said.
但没有任何州对最严重的罪行——谋杀——设定时效。根据特克海默的说法，大多数州已取消涉及儿童的特定性侵犯罪的时效。全国犯罪受害者中心首席执行官蕾妮·威廉姆斯表示：“我不明白为什么大多数州不规定，如果有DNA证据，就能彻底打破性侵起诉的诉讼时效。”
But no state has a time limit on the most serious crime, murder. And most states have eliminated them for certain sexual assault crimes involving children, according to Turkheimer. Renee Williams, CEO of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said, “I don’t know why most states would not say, if there’s DNA, it blows the statute of limitations out of the water” for sexual assault prosecutions.
虽然近十个州规定，若利用DNA证据识别嫌疑人则取消时效，但有六个州仅提供五年或更短的有限延长。在爱荷华州，最严重的强奸指控——一级性虐待——的诉讼时效为10年。若引入DNA证据，可额外延长三年。
While nearly a dozen states eliminate time limits if DNA evidence is used to identify a suspect, six offer limited extensions of five years or less. In Iowa, the statute of limitations for the most serious rape charge — first-degree sexual abuse — is 10 years. An extra three years can get added if DNA evidence comes into play.
在蒙大拿州，加重非自愿性交罪——该州最严重的强奸指控——的追诉时效为五年，若有DNA证据可延长一年。较轻的非自愿性交罪的时效为十年。据蒙大拿州立法机构立法服务处称，立法者于2017年设立了加重指控，但在委员会听证会上从未讨论该罪行的追诉时效。原因不明。但根据该处说法，时效自动成为五年——这是该州大多数重罪的“兜底”时限。
In Montana, the statute of limitations for aggravated sexual intercourse without consent — that state’s most serious rape charge — is five years, with a one-year DNA extension. The time limit is 10 years for the lesser crime of sexual intercourse without consent. According to the Legislative Services Division of Montana’s Legislature, lawmakers created the aggravated charge in 2017 but never addressed the crime’s statute of limitations in committee hearings. It isn’t clear why. But the time limit automatically became five years — the “catchall” period for most felony crimes in the state, according to the division.
另有七个州和华盛顿特区的追诉时效为十年或更短，且没有延长时效的DNA例外条款。在一些州，这些指控属于轻罪或低级重罪。但在北达科他州，最严重的性犯罪之一的时效为七年，仅在被告非该州居民时才可暂停。这种“时效中止”条款在州法中很常见。它们在特定情况下暂停时效计算，且通常适用于所有重罪。正义问题，而非数学问题在俄亥俄州，据辛辛那提警探杰夫·斯莫伍德称，当局最初认为可以对袭击比蒂的男子提起强奸指控。
Seven other states and Washington, D.C., have statutes of limitations of 10 years or less and no DNA exceptions that extend the clock. In some states, these charges are misdemeanors or lower-level felonies. But in North Dakota, one of the most serious sex crimes has a time limit of seven years that can be paused only if the accused isn’t a resident of the state. Such “tolling” provisions are common in state statutes. They pause the time limit in certain circumstances and often apply to all felony crimes. Question of justice, not math In Ohio, authorities initially believed they could pursue a rape charge against the man who assaulted Beatty, according to Jeff Smallwood, a Cincinnati police detective.
虽然1989年该罪行的追诉时效仅为六年，但1999年延长至二十年，2015年又因DNA证据额外延长五年，达到二十五年。斯莫伍德回忆，当他联系检察官办公室时，对方认为尽管已超出二十五年窗口期，但因从比蒂的连衣裙上提取到生物证据，五年DNA延长条款应当生效。利用遗传基因谱系分析，调查人员确定该DNA属于弗雷德里克·坦泽，他在1989年是比蒂挚友的丈夫。
While the statute of limitations for the crime was just six years in 1989, it was extended to 20 years in 1999, then again to 25 years with an additional five-year extension for DNA evidence in 2015. When Smallwood approached the prosecutor’s office, he recalled, they believed that even though they were outside the 25-year window, the five-year DNA extension would kick in because of biological evidence recovered from Beatty’s dress. Using genetic genealogy, the investigators determined the DNA was that of Frederick Tanzer, a doctor who in 1989 was the husband of Beatty’s best friend.
当局正准备实施逮捕，斯莫尔伍德说，检察官办公室却传来了坏消息。由于对法律的误读，因为原本的诉讼时效已过，DNA延长条款不再适用。“他们说，‘我们弄错了，’”斯莫尔伍德回忆道。“‘我们无法起诉此案。’”汉密尔顿县检察官办公室的一位发言人表示，目前领导该办公室的检察官未参与该过程，因此“无法”知晓事情是如何发生的。
Authorities were preparing to make an arrest, Smallwood said, when the prosecutor’s office came back with bad news. A misreading of the law meant that because the original statute of limitations had already run out, the DNA extension didn’t apply. “They say, ‘We made a mistake,’” Smallwood recalled. “‘We are unable to prosecute this case.’”A spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office said the attorney who now leads the office wasn’t involved in the process, so it’s “impossible” to know how it unfolded.
特克海默说，这个明显的错误说明了诉讼时效的复杂性如何会破坏司法制度的基本前提。“现实是，这些本应是正义的问题，但往往变成了复杂的数学题。”由于俄亥俄州的调查人员无法追究强奸指控，他们求助于联邦当局。利用坦泽扔掉的一个咖啡杯，调查人员确认坦泽的DNA在比蒂的连衣裙上被检出。他们开始审查坦泽可能被指控的其他罪行，包括指控他给前妻下药并与其发生非自愿性行为，联邦检察官在庭前羁押动议中写道。
Turkheimer said the apparent mistake illustrates how the complexities of statutes of limitations can undermine the fundamental premise of the justice system. “The reality is these should be questions of justice, but they’re often complicated math problems,” he said. Because investigators in Ohio couldn’t pursue a rape charge, they reached out to federal authorities for help. Using a coffee cup that Tanzer threw out, the investigators confirmed Tanzer’s DNA was found on Beatty’s dress. And they began examining other possible crimes that Tanzer could be charged with, including allegations that he’d drugged his ex-wife and had nonconsensual sex with her, federal prosecutors wrote in a pretrial detention filing.
但这些也被排除了，因为在涉嫌袭击发生时，俄亥俄州法律有一项豁免条款，禁止以强奸罪起诉配偶。（在接受《日期线》采访时，坦泽拒绝讨论这些指控。）特克海默说，这种配偶豁免权曾存在于每个州，但现在很少保留。俄亥俄州于2024年取消了配偶强奸豁免权。最后的起诉计划当局接下来制定了斯莫尔伍德所谓的“最后一搏”起诉计划——一个诡计，旨在抓住坦泽在强奸案上撒谎。那样，他就可以因该谎言被起诉。
But those, too, were ruled out because, at the time of the alleged assaults, there was an exemption in Ohio law that barred spouses from being prosecuted for rape. (In an interview with “Dateline,” Tanzer declined to discuss the allegations.) Such spousal exemptions once existed in every state, but few remain, Turkheimer said. Ohio eliminated its spousal rape exemption in 2024. Last-ditch plan for prosecution Authorities next developed what Smallwood described as a last-ditch plan to prosecute Tanzer — a ruse that could catch him lying about the rape. Then, he could be prosecuted for that lie.
编造了一个关于当局正在调查一名涉嫌强奸比蒂并掩盖真相的警察的故事后，斯莫尔伍德说，他们计划不是以嫌疑人，而是以证人的身份接触坦泽。他们会询问他是否知晓袭击案的任何情况。俄亥俄州南区联邦检察官朱莉·D·加西亚表示，棘手的部分在于坦泽本可以拒绝配合。“每个人都有保持沉默的权利，”加西亚说。
After having made up a story about how authorities were investigating a police officer suspected of raping Beatty and covering it up, Smallwood said, they planned to approach Tanzer not as a suspect, but as a witness. They’d ask whether he knew anything about the attack. The tricky part, said Julie D. Garcia, a federal prosecutor in Ohio’s Southern District, is that Tanzer could have refused. “Everyone has a right to remain silent,” Garcia said.
“他完全有权说：‘我不想跟你们谈。把门关上。’”但坦泽选择了开口。而且他撒了谎。录音显示，他告诉调查人员，他在1989年8月1日没有与比蒂交谈过，也没有去过她的公寓或与她发生过性关系。2024年12月11日，坦泽因涉嫌向联邦特工作虚假陈述被捕，随后认罪。他于今年被判处15年监禁。在接受《日期线》节目采访时，他承认强奸了比蒂，并表示自己在“探寻原因”。
“And he would have been well within his rights to say: ‘I don’t want to talk to you. Close the door.’”But Tanzer talked. And he lied. He told them he didn’t speak with Beatty on Aug. 1, 1989, nor did he go to her apartment or have sex with her, a recording of the interview shows. On Dec. 11, 2024, Tanzer was arrested on suspicion of making false statements to a federal agent, and he later pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison this year. In the interview with “Dateline,” he admitted raping Beatty and said he was “working on the why.”
前检察官哈达韦认为，当局在提起联邦指控方面已尽了最大努力。但她表示，此案是“完美例证”，说明为何诉讼时效不应适用于强奸等罪行——尤其是在嫌疑人身份不明的情况下。“这类犯罪对那些无法保护自己的人有着巨大的影响，”她说。“立法机关未能认识到这一点，且对性侵犯罪缺乏更统一的应对方式，我认为这非常能说明我国的优先事项是什么。”
To Hardaway, the former prosecutor, authorities did the best they could in bringing the federal charges. But the case, she said, was the “perfect example” of why statutes of limitations shouldn’t apply to a crime like rape — especially when the suspect’s identity is unknown. “These types of crimes have an enormous impact on those who are not able to protect themselves,” she said. “To be in a place where there isn’t a recognition of that from the legislatures and a more uniform approach to sexual assault crimes, I think, is very telling about the priorities of our nation.”
对比蒂而言，废除诉讼时效不仅能让罪犯受到应有的惩罚，她说：“对我来说，那将是一种解脱，真正的解脱。”如果您或您认识的人遭受过性侵犯，请拨打全美性侵犯热线电话 1-800-656-4673。
For Beatty, eliminating statues of limitations wouldn’t just deliver the appropriate punishment to criminals, she said. “To me, that would be relief,” she said. “True relief.”If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
该热线由强奸、虐待与乱伦全国网络（RAINN）运营，可帮您联系当地的强奸危机中心。您也可以通过以下方式访问RAINN的在线聊天服务：
The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at