Olathe ? A Missouri inmate has been charged with raping a stranded motorist in suburban Kansas City 14 years ago after the victim mistakenly implicated another man.

Authorities ruled out the initial suspect because his DNA didn’t match evidence left at the crime scene.

Because the case had been reopened, the DNA profile obtained from the crime was submitted to a national database of DNA samples, and a convicted rapist serving a life sentence in Missouri came up as a match.

Kenneth W. York, 49, was charged Wednesday with the 1990 crime. It is not yet known when York will be brought to Johnson County to face the rape charge.

“It’s a really good example of how technology can help fight crime,” said Johnson County Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison.

The victim said she “felt horrible” about accusing an innocent man. But if she hadn’t, police told her it was unlikely the old evidence ever would have been compared with samples in the database.

According to police reports, the woman, then 18, accepted a ride from a man who offered to help after her car broke down along Interstate 435 in east Kansas City, Mo.

He allegedly pulled out a knife and drove her across state lines to Lenexa, where she was raped.

Though investigators were unable to find a suspect, Lenexa Police Detective Mike Lowther said samples were collected and kept in storage.

When the rape happened, records show York was on parole for the rape of a woman in Kansas City after she too had car trouble and accepted a ride.

He later was sentenced to life in prison for a 1993 sexual assault in Vernon County, Mo., according to Missouri Department of Corrections officials.