DNA testing has cleared a man sentenced to life in prison for raping a woman in front of her husband and children at a Bossier City motel.

Eric Prudholm, 58, has been jailed since 1981. A Bossier Parish jury convicted him of aggravated rape and robbery and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 50 years.

A Bossier District Court judge on Wednesday signed an order vacating Prudholm’s conviction and sentence. In return, he agreed to plead no-contest to robbery with credit for time served.

Prudholm, who was brought to court on Wednesday, was expected to be released from Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola on Thursday.