Prosecutors recently dismissed charges against a 35-year-old man accused of raping a woman in her Freeland home in August.

The case may not be over, however. The charges were dismissed without prejudice so they can be refiled in the future if the evidence supports them, according to Island County Chief Deputy Criminal Prosecutor Eric Ohme.

The case is still under investigation, Ohme said. Investigators are awaiting results from the crime lab and need to follow up with additional potential witnesses. Completing the investigation will take time beyond speedy trial rules, so the case was dismissed.

Also, Ohme said the investigation revealed exculpatory evidence.

Prosecutors originally charged Jorge Ordonez in Island County Superior Court Aug. 24 with first-degree rape and first-degree burglary with sexual motivation.

The 51-year-old woman reported to police at about 10 p.m., Aug. 20, that she was the victim of a “possible” rape, according to court documents.

The woman claimed that a stranger, later identified as Ordonez, knocked on the door of her Useless Bay home when she was on the telephone. Ordonez couldn’t speak English and wrote “Lolita” on a piece of paper. She claimed he pulled her into her house and repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

A deputy saw Ordonez outside the woman’s house the next day and arrested him. Speaking through a translator, Ordonez denied assaulting the woman. He told detectives that he was mowing a neighbor’s yard when he saw the woman lying on the ground outside and helped her into her garage, according to the detective’s report.