Whether Christopher George committed the crime or not, a jury will never hear it. On Tuesday, which was supposed to be the first day of his trial, the district attorney dropped the charge.
"I believe the state knew from the very beginning that it was a false allegation," said Karen George-Eaunchand, the suspect's mother. "But I'm overjoyed because after five years, this nightmare is over."
George was just 15 years old when a classmate accused him of rape. He would eventually be charged in the juvenile court system, set to be certified as an adult. But over the course of the case, something was missed.
"The defendant has to have been served with the petition,' said Terrence Windham with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
That one petition wasn't served to George until after he turned 18, and according to the district attorney's office, that means the adult courts no longer had jurisdiction.
"I can't tell you that the guy was guilty. I can't say that he was not guilty," said Windham. "I can say this. We believe we had sufficient evidence to prosecute him and win a conviction or we wouldn't have been prosecuting the case in the first place."
George's attorney says the dismissal was the right result, considering what her client has been through.
"He's been in jail, in and out of jail for a couple of months at a time over five years, on this particular charge," said attorney Elsie Martin-Simon.
But the mayor's crime victims' advocate wonders what kind of message this sends to the alleged victim.
"The victim never even got the opportunity to have their case presented as to why they were sexually assaulted, why they were victimized, and before you know it, a technicality takes that away," said crime victims' advocate Andy Kahan.
We spoke with the alleged victim late Tuesday. She says she's still absorbing Tuesday's development and is refraining from comment.
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