Hit in DNA database exonerates man 47 years after wrongful rape conviction

A New York man was officially exonerated on Tuesday 47 years after he was found guilty of rape in 1976 — the longest-standing wrongful conviction to be overturned based on new DNA evidence in the Innocent Project database, the organization said.

A DNA hit "conclusively excluded" Leonard Mack, 72, as the perpetrator, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah said in a statement. Conviction Review Unit investigators identified a convicted sex offender after they ran the DNA through databases, and the DA's office said the individual has now confessed to the rape. 

"This exoneration confirms that wrongful convictions are not only harmful to the wrongly convicted but also make us all less safe," Rocah said.