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Note: Cumulative performance metrics are updated quarterly based on state and local level reports.
Man arrested in 1998 murder of Strasburg woman; baby daughter still missing
— potomaclocal.com, Sep 29, 2025
"After 27 years, Virginia State Police have made an arrest in the cold case murder of Sylena Jo Dalton, who was found stabbed to death in her Strasburg apartment in 1998.
State police say the breakthrough came thanks to years of investigative work, advanced crime analysis, and help from several agencies—including the Shenandoah County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative."
Former Security Guard Sentenced to 16 Years for 2015 Rape at Portland Rite Aid
— Tyler Francke, canbyfirst.com, Sep 28, 2025
"A former security guard who raped a woman inside a Portland Rite Aid store in 2015 was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in prison, closing a case that lingered for nearly a decade.The case was revived under the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a federal grant program that funds advanced testing for previously untested rape kits. The new testing provided the evidence needed to pursue charges against Cassinelli.
“This was an incredibly unlikely scenario for someone like Ms. Stott to get justice,” said Deputy District Attorney Quinn Zemel. He noted the initiative has made it possible to prosecute cases once considered unsolvable."
Man convicted in multiple DeKalb rapes from 1986
— Sam Daniel, yahoo.com, Sep 20, 2025
"A DeKalb County jury found Jeffrey Briney, 61, guilty on multiple charges related to two violent home invasions and sexual assaults that occurred in 1986, according to prosecutors. The charges include four counts of rape, seven counts of kidnapping, seven counts of aggravated assault, five counts of attempted armed robbery, two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated sodomy and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The cases remained unsolved until 2023, when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent previously untested rape kits to a private lab as part of a statewide sexual assault kit initiative. DNA from one of the Briarwood victims matched Jeffrey Briney in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). His DNA was also linked to the Buford Highway case."
SAKI is enhancing the criminal justice response to sexual assault and ensuring justice for victims. SAKI funding will not only help link victims to advocates and needed services, but also help jurisdictions implement best practices and comprehensive reform to help bring perpetrators to justice and increase safety in communities by preventing future sexual assaults.
Sign up for upcoming webinars or watch webinars from the SAKI archive. Presentations feature practitioners and experts with years of experience in current and cold case sexual assault. The webinars cover investigations, forensic testing, prosecution strategies, victim notification, the neurobiology of trauma, offender research, and more
Choose from five E-Learning Curricula that provide guidance on issues related to unsubmitted sexual assault kits. The courses walk learners through the importance of SAK testing, the effects of trauma, creating a testing plan, victim notification, cold case investigation and prosecution. Individual modules allow learners to complete trainings at their own pace.
Explore hands-on resources tailored for practitioners working to improve their community's response to sexual assault. The SAKI Toolkit contains topics centered around skill development and covers the key categories of sexual assault response. Explore resources, save tools to a customizable Briefcase, or create resource sets to share with others.
SAKI is committed to helping survivors of sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs help, support is available through the resources provided by our partners.
Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative aims to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases. Through this program, funding is provided to support multidisciplinary community response teams engaged in the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits.
