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Displaying News and Event Items: 1 - 10 of 746.
DNA links Kentucky man to 2005 sexual assault in Louisville
WHAS11 Staff, Aug 29, 2023
"A program used to solve sexual assault crimes in Kentucky has led to the arrest of a man in a decades old case. Kentucky State Police funding from their sexual assault kit initiative (SAKI) to charge 53-year-old George Wayne Aldridge. The SAKI grant program is funded by the Department of Justice and gives money to police departments to address the backlogs of untested sexual assault kits."
Trial for man facing 21 sex crimes underway
WVTM13, Jon Paepcke, Aug 28, 2023
"The trial of a man accused of victimizing more than a dozen women is underway in Jefferson County.
Jonathan Fitzgerald "Master" Lockett is facing 35 total felonies, two-thirds of which are sex crimes."
After nearly 30 years, North Texas police charge man with sexually assaulting woman, child
James Hartley, Star-telegram, Aug 23, 2023
"Denton police arrested a 53-year-old man in two sexual assault and child sexual assault cold cases nearly 30 years after the rapes occurred in 1993 and 1997, according to a news release from police. Marcus Deshaun Johnson was connected to the two cases through DNA evidence collected at the time, according to the news release. Police announced his arrest Tuesday.
A National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant also provided funding to support Denton police efforts to solve sexual assault cold cases."
DNA analysis helps lead to an arrest in a 1991 Durham rape case
The News and Observer, AARON SÁNCHEZ-GUERRA, Aug 22, 2023
"A Durham man is accused of breaking into a woman’s home and raping her 32 years ago. Kenneth Lunsford, 60, was arrested by the Durham Police Department’s Cold Case Unit on Aug. 17 through the state’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), which matched his DNA to evidence collected from a sexual assault kit."
DNA project that led to arrest in McCleary rape case reaches milestone
Harbor News, KXRO, Aug 11, 2023
"Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that his lawfully owed DNA project has reached a milestone, with more than 2,000 new profiles added to the national DNA database since the effort began.
“Collecting the DNA of thousands of serious offenders will help us solve more cold cases,” Ferguson said. “This work makes communities safer and sends the message that we will use every tool at our disposal to bring justice to survivors and victims of these devastating crimes.”
Fugitive who faked his death can be extradited to Utah to face a rape charge
Brian Melley Associated Press, KSLTV, Aug 2, 2023
"The documents allege that Rossi raped a former girlfriend he had met on myspace.com and briefly dated in Orem, Utah. The woman reported the sexual assault to a local hospital and her rape kit was tested as part of the “sexual assault kit initiative” in 2017. The DNA found connected investigators to Rossi."
Arrest Made in Cold Case Rapes: School Bus Driver Linked to Decades-Old Crimes
ABQ RAW Staff, Jul 27, 2023
"In a significant development, agents from the Bernalillo County District Attorney's office have arrested a 61-year-old school bus driver named Ralph Anthony Martinez in connection with four cold case rapes that occurred in Northeast Albuquerque during the 1980s and 1990s.
The arrest came after a meticulous forensic genetic genealogy DNA investigation conducted by the District Attorney's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Team (SAKI)."
BCA finishes testing on previously unsubmitted rape kits from 2015 backlog
CBS Minnesota, Jul 27, 2023
"The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says it has caught up on a years-long backlog of rape kits.
In 2015, law enforcement agencies were asked to account for all untested kits and send them to the BCA for testing. Of the backlogged kits tested, approximately 130 new suspects were identified according to the BCA."
Alaska's Sexual Assault Kit Tracking Software goes live statewide
KINY Radio, Jul 26, 2023
"The Alaska Department of Public Safety’s Sex Assault Kit Tracking System recently went live statewide enabling survivors of sexual assault to track the status of their kit securely online.
Victims now have access to a portal for the tracking system which allows them to track the progress of their kit in the least invasive and traumatic way."