Statute of Limitations

The Joplin Globe reports (Thursday, August 16, 2007) that the charge of rape against Paul S. Epling, 54, a deacon of Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church, near Powell, was withdrawn because the statute of limitations had expired, according to McDonald County Prosecutor Janice Durbin. The alleged victim is a 35-year-old woman who claimed that Epling forced sexual intercourse on her when she was 6.

Allegations against Epling’s brother, Tom Epling, 51, another deacon at the church, followed a similar pattern. Tom Epling initially faced five felony counts in connection with alleged acts involving a girl between 1976 and 1978, when she was 4 and 5 years old. Prosecutors in September 2006 amended the charges to two counts. The remaining two charges were dismissed in December 2006, because of a statute of limitations in effect at the time of the alleged offenses.

KSNTV Jennifer Adkins reported that between 1979 and 1984 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the Statute of Limitations applied to cases of non-forcible rape. This law was repealed in 1984, but does limit the prosecution of non-forcible rape cases to those that occurred before 1979 or after 1984.