BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — Lorinda Swain spent years behind bars even after her adoptive son recanted his claims of sexual abuse. The circuit court eventually ordered a new trial, and prosecutors decided to drop the charges.
Swain was convicted in 2002 for having sexual relations with her son. But the son later changed his story, saying that he wasn’t telling the truth when he testified at trial that Swain had molested him over a period of years.
“So, the son after the trial came forward and admitted that his story was false and that his stepmother had put him up to it,” said David Moran, University of Michigan Innocence Clinic director.
Moran says it was something else that eventually won his team a new trial for his client.
“We also contacted Lorinda Swain’s ex-boyfriend, who lived in the house for most of the period during which this alleged sexual molestation was supposedly happening on a daily basis, and he very emphatically confirmed that this wasn’t true,” Moran said.
Full story: WOOD TV