Central Park Jogger Rape Case

On April 19, 1989, a woman jogging in Central Park in New York City was raped, violently beaten and left for dead.

• The "28-year old woman began jogging in Central Park around 9:00pm" at night.  Shortly thereafter, she was "raped and violently beaten".  She was found a few hours after her rapist left her for dead (3). 
• The victim spent weeks in the hospital and doctor's believed she would not survive because she was beaten so badly (3).  
• However, the victim did survive and miraculously only had some remaining side effects of the beating, such as some vision loss. 
• Shortly after her rape made the news, five juveniles were suspected of the crime.
• The five defendants, referred to as the Central Park Five, included 4 African-American males and one Hispanic male.  All suspects were 14-16 years of age.
• The suspects were all from the poor sections of Harlem and police believed them to be the rapists because they were in and around the park that night (3).
• All of the defendants, except one, "confessed to the crime while in police interrogation".  "All their confessions had different versions of events and all confessions implicated the other defendants in the crime" (3). 
• DNA evidence was obtained in the case, and it did not match any of the defendants.  
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• Aftermath:  All "five defendants were tried and found guilty in two separate trials" (3 of the defendants were convicted in one trials, while the other two were convicted in a separate trial) (3).
• In 1990, 4 defendants were found "guilty of attempted murder and rape.  These four defendants received a maximum sentence of 5-10 years" (4).  They were treated as juveniles by the justice system, not as adults.  Had they been tried as adults, their sentence would have been higher.
• The fifth defendant was found "guilty of sexual abuse and assault and received a maximum sentence of 5-15 years in prison" (4).  He was tried as an adult.    
• In 2002, a convicted murdered and rapist, "Matias Reyes, confessed to the crime and stated that he had acted alone" (5). 
• Reyes' DNA was matched with the one found on the victim and it was determined that "he was the one who raped and beat the central park jogger" (5). 
• By this time "all of the defendants, except one, had completed their prison terms" (4).
• A new investigation was ordered and a judge vacated their convictions.
• The Central Park Five sued the City of New York for their wrongful convictions.  
• In 2014, a judge "approved a $41 million dollar settlement" between the Central Park Five and the City of New York.  The defendants are to "receive $1 million dollars for each year they served in prison" (4). 
• 4 defendants served "7 years in prison and the fifth served 13 years in prison for the crime" (4). 

If you would like to learn more about this case, there is a documentary that is available that explains the case and its aftermath.  I will share a link to the PBS webpage below where you can learn more about it. 

PBS Link: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/

Created by: Maggie Mendez