Kevin Richardson H'20: From Wrongly Imprisoned to Criminal Justice Reform Advocate

When he was just 14 years old, Kevin Richardson H'20 and four of his friends were arrested and charged with raping and beating a white woman in Central Park. The case flamed racial tensions across the country, as Richardson and his friends, who would be known as the Central Park 5, were vilified in the media and deprived of their rights by the police during a three-day interrogation. Without forensic evidence, and despite their continued cries of innocence, the Central Park 5 were coerced into confessing to these crimes, serving anywhere from five to 12 years in a juvenile detention facility or a prison. In 2002, thanks to DNA evidence and a confession from the real perpetrator, Richardson was finally released after serving more than seven years. Richardson shares how his faith got him through those trying times, how he and the Exonerated 5 are making a difference and reforming the criminal justice system through their work with The Innocence Project, and how receiving an honorary bachelor of fine arts degree from Syracuse University this fall is the realization of a dream delayed 32 years.