DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Although it's been nearly eight months since Clarence Elkins' name was cleared, the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction internal database still has him listed as a sexual predator and posts no information about his exoneration.

In a highly publicized case, Elkins was freed Dec. 15, 2005, and the state paid him a $1,075,000 wrongful conviction settlement earlier this year.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction allows the public to view information and law enforcement to see more details in its offender database via the Internet. The law enforcement portion requires a password.

Elkins was promptly removed from the public portion but as of this week, he was still listed as a sexual predator in information accessible to police and prosecutors.

Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman Andrea Dean said in an e-mail to the Dayton Daily News, "The information about his sentence being vacated and overturned should have been placed there. We will see to it that it is rectified ASAP."

Elkins said he did not know about the posting and planned to look into it.

Elkins had been serving a life sentence for the 1998 rape and murder of his mother-in-law and rape and beating of his 6-year-old niece. His wife Melinda fought for 7½ years to clear her husband's name and bring her mother's real killer to justice. New DNA testing proved Elkins did not commit the crimes and pointed to another inmate who is now under investigation.

Melinda and Clarence Elkins separated after his release, and Melinda moved into a home in Montgomery County with her fiance, Patrick Dawson. The new couple abruptly split this week. Melinda returned to the Canton area and said she plans to reconcile with her husband.

Dawson was arrested during the breakup. His arraignment on one count of misdemeanor assault is scheduled for Aug. 15 in Kettering Municipal Court. He has said he will plead not guilty.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.