According to St. Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch , 67-year-old Donald Ingerson mistakenly thought that he could call the police and tell them in detail how he raped two girls many years ago without being prosecuted due to the statute of limitations. He was shocked to learn that the statute of limitations would not protect him in this case when he was arrested for his crimes. Ingerson, who is a retired school teacher from Missouri, now lives in Minnesota and is in jail with a $300,000 bond.
Many people make incorrect presumptions about laws relating to statutory limitations for prosecutions of criminal acts. For example, in some states, the statutory time limits do not begin to apply until and unless criminal justice officials know who committed a crime and have the ability to locate the suspect. In this instance, the statutory limitation only becomes active 30 years after the victim becomes an adult.
Fortunately, stupidity is not a defense in a court of law.