"if you believe in something fight for it"("Innocent man"). Those words are what came out of Dean Cage's mouth when he was released from prison. Cage's life changed after he was accused of sexually assaulting a fifteen year old girl named Loretta Zilinger, facing trial, and other life changing experiences.( Chen) Zilinger who was the average teenager at the time, was going to school. She missed her morning bus and had to take the subway to school. It was 6:20 am when she noticed a man dressed in black walking towards her. She was scared and did not know what to do. He grabbed her and hit her before dragging her and assaulting her. She could not see his face, but noticed he was an African-American man. Zilinger said she was terrified …show more content…
They tested for DNA from the shirt Zilinger was wearing that night. They did several tests which eliminated him as the attacker.( Edecio). He was released from prison in May 2008. It was really difficult for him to adjust to life outside of prison. When he was released he stated "If I didn’t have the support of my family, I don’t know what I would have done".(Possley). Zilinger was shocked to hear about his release and decided to head to California and share her story with the "Dr. Phil show". She said " I felt guilty that I was responsible for all the years he spent in jail". There was a surprise the show had for her and it was the man she believed to be her attacker, Dean Cage. She had to be convinced by her husband that the DNA tests were accurate and just made a simple mistake. (Rosaz). It was a case of misidentification that got Dean Cage sentenced to prison for 40 years after being accused for sexually assaulting a fifteen year girl, facing trial and in prison for 14 years. This incident occurred in 1994 a time when DNA testing was not a way to prove someone's innocence. This types of asaults occur around the world very often and should be taken seriously with both the victim and the suspect. Cage's actions and courage made him someone important because he always had hope and the ability to forgive the people that wronged