In September 1993, Waterbury resident Donna Palomba was attacked after a masked intruder broke into her home. Eleven years later, police tracked down the suspected culprit. Now, Palomba is sharing her story on Dateline NBC this Friday. 

In the Jan. 21 episode, Palomba will share her story with Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning and detail how investigators accused her of lying and threatened her with arrest following her attack. According to Palomba’s website, Jane Doe No More, the intruder broke into her home on Sept. 11, 1993 while her husband was in Colorado for a friend’s wedding. Her then 5 and 7-year-old children were asleep when the intruder broke in and jumped on her in her bedroom, covered her head in a pillowcase and bound her hands. The intruder proceeded to sexually assault her and threatened to kill her if she called the police, she said. 

Over a month later, Palomba notes on her website that she met with police about the assault, during which she claims the officer accused her of lying about the incident. After filing legal complaints and later a lawsuit against the police department — that she won — the alleged perpetrator was finally found in October 2004. The accused suspect was awaiting trial for a separate incident of attempted sexual assault of a 21-year-old girl when he was arrested for Palomba's case, according to Palomba's Jane Doe No More. The statute of limitations on Palomba's sexual assault charge expired by this time, but the suspect was charged with kidnapping; he pleaded not guilty and was released on $350,000 bond.

The alleged assailant received a 12-year prison sentence in New York state in 2006 when he pleaded guilty to a kidnapping charge after authorities said he attempted to kidnap a teenager in Saratoga Springs in 2005, according to the Times Union. He also pleaded guilty in Connecticut to a kidnapping charge in 2006 in Palomba's case, her website notes, resulting in a 15-year prison sentence. The New York and Connecticut sentences were served concurrently in a New York state prison. 

In Friday’s episode, she will detail her journey along with her case’s new development and mission to keep her attacker from walking free. The assailant's sentence in a New York prison finished October 2017, and is currently being held under New York’s Sex Offender Civil Management Law and a trial is forthcoming, according to Palomba's website. Enacted in 2007 in New York, the law is a way to "civilly confine" sex offenders who are about to be released from prison, but still pose a significant risk to commit similar crimes in the future.

Off the small screen, Palomba continues her work through her Jane Doe No More nonprofit. The organization serves as an education and outreach group that educates students on assault and bystander intervention, advocates for survivors and trains people on assault safety and survival skills. 

This isn’t the first time Palomba has appeared on NBC to share her story. In 2007, she was profiled by Dateline NBC in a story called, “The Man Behind the Mask,” in which Palomba detailed the timeline of her attack and her ensuing 11-year journey for justice. Her latest feature on Dateline will air on Jan. 21 at 9 p.m.