News

Alleged serial rapist arrested in Phoenix after 15 years
— Tyler Dukes, News & Observer, Oct 28, 2021

An alleged serial rapist has been arrested in Phoenix and faces multiple charges after three separate allegations of sexual assault over a 15-year period.

Man pleads guilty to pair of 2015 sexual assaults at Duke hospital and Durham trail
— Tyler Dukes, News & Observer, Oct 26, 2021

A Durham County court sentenced a man to up to 24 years in prison Monday for a pair of 2015 sexual assaults solved as investigators continue to work through a backlog of untested rape kits.

Madison man charged with sexual assault after matching DNA found in 2 rape kits
— Logan Rude, Chanel 3000, Oct 21, 2021

A Madison man was charged Wednesday with sexual assault after his DNA matched with DNA from another rape kit.

DNA match leads to arrest in 1989 sex assault, burglary cold case
— WSOC Staff, WSOC, Oct 20, 2021

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have arrested and charged a man with the 1989 burglary and rape of a 19-year-old woman thanks to a DNA match.

Mills County Man Convicted of 2003 Kidnapping and Sex Offenses
— Iowa Department of Justice, Oct 8, 2021

On Wednesday, October 6, 2021, Myron Lee Brandon, age 43, of Pacific Junction, Iowa, was found guilty in federal court of two counts of kidnapping and two counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. This was the first jury trial in the State of Iowa using DNA evidence processed by the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

Verona man charged with sexual assault after backlogged kit is tested
— Molly DeVore, Wisconsin State Journal, Oct 3, 2021

A man was charged Sept. 23 with the sexual assault of a child under 16 in June 2008, according to the DOJ. A sexual assault nurse examination was conducted after the alleged assault. According to the DOJ, DNA collected in the kit matched Garza.

Coldwater man convicted in second of three sex assault cases spanning three counties
— Brandon James, WKZO, Oct 1, 2021

Jackson County jury has convicted a Coldwater man in the second of three sexual assault cases against him. The charges stem from a February 2010 assault and were brought as part of the state’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

Coldwater man convicted in second sexual assault kit initiative case
— Krystle Hollman, WILX, Sep 30, 2021

Wednesday a Jackson County jury convicted a Coldwater man in the second of three sexual assault cases against him, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka announced. “This conviction is a testament to the determination our SAKI teams have maintained to secure justice for sexual assault survivors, regardless of the years that have passed since the assault,” Nessel said. “I appreciate the work done by the Jackson County SAKI team to reach this outcome.”

Serial rapist pleads guilty to five attacks in New Orleans for 32-year sentence
— Matt Sledge, NOLA.com, Sep 29, 2021

Man who was arrested in 2018 after DNA linked him to a string of attacks on women at knife- or gunpoint, pleaded guilty to five counts of second-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape.

After two years, Survivor Act has legacy of rape convictions
— Carolina Public Press, Sep 24, 2021

To date, more than half of the old rape kits have been either tested or are in some process of testing. Of those, 3,756 kits have completed testing. Scientists have so far been able to extract a valid DNA sample from 1,379 kits, and of those 41%, or about 560, were a match on the federal Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.