26 years after conviction, 2 exonerated in false rape claim

NEW YORK – Two men sentenced to prison in 1992 for a Central Park rape their accuser now acknowledges never happened have had their convictions vacated.

VanDyke Perry and Gregory Counts were in court in New York on Monday when a judge exonerated them.

Perry was 21 and Counts was 19 when they were accused by a woman who said they and another man raped her in 1991 as part of an ongoing dispute with her boyfriend.

The men were convicted despite a lack of any material evidence. Perry spent 10 years in prison before being paroled. Counts was in prison for 26 years before being paroled.

Counts reached out to the Innocence Project, which began investigating the case, later joined by prosecutors. Investigators spoke to the woman, who recanted.