GROVELAND, Fla. — After 72 years, the men known as the Groveland Four have been officially exonerated. 

What You Need To Know

  •  The Groveland Four were convicted of raping a woman in 1949

  •  It was later found that false testimony and fake evidence were used to convict them

  • The four men were pardoned in 2019, but it was Monday when they were officially declared innocent

Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepard, Walter Irvin, Ernest Thomas were accused and convicted of raping a woman back in 1949 with little evidence. 

Carol Greenlee, daughter of Charles Greenlee, couldn’t help but sob when her father was officially declared an innocent man Monday after decades of heartbreak. 

“I was born in 1949, and he was in prison in July and I was born in November,” said Greenlee. “The only thing I remember going to the prison when I was about three or four and I don’t even remember his face because I was a kid playing in the court yard.”

But Greenlee never gave up. She fought along with the families Shepard, Irvin and Thomas — knowing the men were innocent. 

“My father was a loving, caring, compassionate person that did not rape anybody,” said Greenlee. 

Years later, investigations found the there was not enough proof to have convicted these men.

According to the District Attorney, they were deprived of their constitutional rights as false testimony and fabricated evidence was used in their trials.

While it was enough to get the men pardoned back in 2019, they were never exonerated. But now, thanks to some long lost evidence, investigators are certain that they were innocent.

“I mean 72 years of paper work, it's not like this case was in a computer somewhere,” said Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigator Keith Riddick. 

It was enough for a judge to officially restore their innocence, wiping their slates clean. For Greenlee, its an end to chapter she’s ready to close. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Greenlee.