News

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Training Aims to Educate, Ease Backlogs
— Timothy Despain, Alaska Native News, Feb 18, 2020

Alaska SAKI completed a statewide training. Colonel Bryan Barlow of the Alaska State Troopers stated, “We owe it to the survivors of these crimes to investigate and follow through on all reported sexual assaults. The SAKI best practices classes are critical to closing the loop on justice and providing closure to survivors across Alaska.”

APD: Man arrested after DNA links him to two cold cases
— Christina Rodriguez, KOB 4, Feb 14, 2020

DNA evidence from previously unsubmitted SAK leads to arrest of offender in two rapes, 1 that occured in Albuquerque in 1997 and 1 that occured in Mountain View, CA in 2004.

Eric Hill indicted for rape of Texas man beneath Treme overpass
— Orleans Parish District Attorney, Feb 13, 2020

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 13) secured an indictment charging a New Orleans felon identified through DNA results with the rape of a Texas man beneath a Treme freeway overpass in May 2017.

Mobile County DA gets first conviction in Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
— Lindsay Bullard, NBC 15, Feb 12, 2020

A jury found a man guilty Wednesday of the 1997 rape and sodomy of a Mobile County woman.This is the Mobile County District Attorney's Office's first conviction in a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative case, according to a tweet from the D.A.'s official page.

AG SCHMITT, JOPLIN PD SEND SECOND BATCH OF UNTESTED SEXUAL ASSAULT KITS TO LAB
— Parker Padgett, KTTS 94.7, Feb 11, 2020

Missouri Attorney General's office sends second batch of previously untested SAKs off to private laboratory for testing.

Man Found Guilty of Sexual Assault of a Child After Backlogged Kit Tested
— Wisconsin Department of Justice, Feb 4, 2020

Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced that Rock County Judge Karl R. Hanson accepted Jason A. Smith’s Guilty by No Contest plea for two counts of Second Degree Sexual Assault of a Child that occurred in July of 2000. The victim’s sexual assault kit was tested as part of the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) in 2018. This is the fourth conviction to result from the testing of backlogged sexual assault kits in Wisconsin.

Police charge man in 2015 sex assault on Durham trail, investigate recent assault on second trail
— Sarah Krueger, WRAL, Jan 31, 2020

Police said Thursday that they have made an arrest in a sexual assault more than four years ago in the Ellerbe Creek Trail in Durham.

Upcoming Solicitations from the Bureau of Justice Assistance
— Bureau of Justice Assistance, Jan 30, 2020

Dr. Angela Williamson, Supervisor of National Initiatives, FBI/ViCAP Liaison, presented on criminal justice-based programs that will soon be requesting proposals. The Forensics-related programs include the following: The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, The Strategies for Policing Innovation Program, and The Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative. The presentation discussing these solicitations can be found here. The Investigations-related programs include the following: The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Public Safety Partnership, The Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative, and Multidisciplinary Task Forces to Combat Human Trafficking. The presentation discussing these solicitations can be found here.

New system lets survivors track rape kits
— SHIRA SCHOENBERG, CommonWealth, Jan 29, 2020

Massachusetts is rolling out a new system that will allow survivors of sexual assault to track online the processing of evidence collected from them at hospitals following an assault.

Attorney general gives update on Missouri’s untested rape kit process
— Fourstateshomepage.com, Jan 25, 2020

Earlier this week, Missouri’s attorney general announced testing is now underway on a backlog of thousands of untested sexual assault kits.