43 Years Later, Reston Rape Conviction Overturned: Report

A man spent five years behind bars in connection with a rape in Reston back in 1975. As it turns out, he was innocent all along, according to a report.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that 62-year-old Winston L. Scott, who was convicted in 1976 at the age of 19 after a Reston woman was attacked on July 24, 1975, was unanimously given a writ of actual innocence by the Virginia Supreme Court last week.

His exoneration comes thanks to a post-conviction DNA testing project in Virginia that began in 2005 and has so far cleared 13 people, the report states.

Scott was sentenced to 14 years after being convicted of rape, sodomy, and statutory burglary. He served five and was let out on parole.

Scott was convicted mainly because the victim identified him in a photo spread. But 2010 DNA testing indicated that Scott's DNA could not be found in the sperm.