HOUSTON -- After serving five years of a 40-year prison sentence, DNA has cleared a Houston man convicted of rape, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Ricardo Rachell, 51. was arrested for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy in 2002. He was convicted in 2003.

Recent DNA tests have since proved his innocence, according to the district attorney's office.

Prosecutors said Rachell was identified by the boy. Although DNA evidence was available at the time of the trial, it was never tested.

"It was just something that should have been done and it wasn't," said Roe Wilson with the district attorney's office.

"Where the evidence was, I don't know. I'm glad they found it and didn't sweep it uder the rug," said Deborah Summers, Rachell's attorney.

In a brief hearing Friday, Judge Susan Brown of the 185th District Court ordered Rachell released from custody on a personal recognizance bond. Summers will seek to have the conviction overturned.

"We have acted as swiftly as possible to see that justice is done in this case," said District Attorney Kenneth Magidson. He said a mistake had been made in not having the DNA tested before the trial.

Magidson and Wilson said the ultimate vindication of Rachell showed that the justice system does work for those wrongly accused or convicted of crimes.

"Our goal is to see that justice is done," Wilson said. "That means both insuring that the guilty are convicted, and the innocent are freed."

Investigators said they have identified another suspect, but no charges have been filed.

More Information:

Timeline of Events In Ricardo Rachell Case