sleuthin4fun
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MARLOW, Okla. — A man says he wants to move on with his life after his stepdaughter recanted charges that he had molested her — a charge that landed him in prison for more than two years.
Kenneth Austin, 60, spent two years and two months in a prison in McAlester after being convicted in 1995 of molesting his then-12-year-old stepdaughter, Mandy Cowart. But Cowart, now 25 and living in Midland, Texas, recanted her story last fall.
Cowart said under oath that she had made up the story so that she could gain some freedom.
"I feel stupid now," she said this week. "I lied. Back then, I felt like I didn't have everything other kids had. When I made the allegation, I felt it was my only way out of the house.
"I felt guilt. At the time even, I had a lot of deep regrets. I just couldn't live with it anymore. I had to make things right."
Stephens County prosecutor Dennis Gay said he doesn't believe Cowart's new story.
"I didn't attend the trial, but I ready the transcripts," Gay said. "I have reviewed the evidence. Do I think an innocent man was put behind bars? No."
Kenneth Austin, 60, spent two years and two months in a prison in McAlester after being convicted in 1995 of molesting his then-12-year-old stepdaughter, Mandy Cowart. But Cowart, now 25 and living in Midland, Texas, recanted her story last fall.
Cowart said under oath that she had made up the story so that she could gain some freedom.
"I feel stupid now," she said this week. "I lied. Back then, I felt like I didn't have everything other kids had. When I made the allegation, I felt it was my only way out of the house.
"I felt guilt. At the time even, I had a lot of deep regrets. I just couldn't live with it anymore. I had to make things right."
Stephens County prosecutor Dennis Gay said he doesn't believe Cowart's new story.
"I didn't attend the trial, but I ready the transcripts," Gay said. "I have reviewed the evidence. Do I think an innocent man was put behind bars? No."