NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A local woman said a man considered a violent offender shouldn't have been on the streets to assault other women, especially if a jury had done it's job in her case.
She said she was raped by Michael Burns, but a jury set him free. Now, she's angry because he may have recently victimized someone else.
The woman, whom we're calling "April" for this story, admitted to being intoxicated the night she and her now ex-husband met up with Burns for a few drinks at Burns' home in February 2009, but she said she was out cold and had been left alone with Burns when she came to and discovered her worst nightmare had come true.
"He was a stranger. I'd met him three or four times before that. He'd always make me feel uncomfortable," April said.
That night, April said she fell asleep at Burns' home and awoke to find her husband gone and Burns on top of her.
Later, she told police her story while getting checked out at a hospital.
"I left the hospital in two hospital gowns and a sweatshirt. I went home and finally got to take a shower and wash the filth off I felt was all over me," April said.
At the time, April said she didn't know that Burns had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted rape eight years before. He was also listed as a violent offender on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry.
Burns had been on parole for just two months before that night when he invited April and her then-husband over for drinks.
But when April's case went to trial in May 2012, the jury never heard from Burns or about his previous guilty plea.
Burns was subsequently acquitted in April's case, and, just a few weeks ago, Mount Pleasant police arrested Burns for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Maury County.
Investigators said Burns used a knife during his most recent alleged assault, DNA evidence played a major role in his arrest.
"That's why I fought so hard. I didn't want him to have the opportunity to do it again. That's why I fought for three years trying to get him convicted. It didn't happen, and he was able to rape again," April said.
April said she has tried to move on with her life. She is no longer with her husband and has met a boyfriend she adores. But she said the memory of that night, and the reality of what could've been, continues to haunt her.
"I feel sad for the girls it's happened to now. I feel angry. I feel guilty, to an extent, that I didn't do something right. If I'd have done different, maybe he'd been found guilty in my situation," April said.
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