News

New bill would allow rape victims to track assault kits online
— Makayla Ballman, Wave 3 News, Feb 5, 2019

A new bill proposed in 2019 legislative session would allow victims of sexual assault to track their sexual assault kits through the testing process in Kentucky.

Pitts: Victims' advocates, Fayetteville police work together on 'cold' case sex assault cases
— Myron Pitts, The Fayetteville Observer, Feb 2, 2019

The Fayetteville Police Department and local rape crisis center work together to ensure victims of sexual assault receive the proper care after their assault and throughout the investigation process.

WV Senate passes Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights for third year
— Taylor Stuck, Charleston Gazette- Mail, Feb 1, 2019

West Virginia senate passes the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights for third year. This legislation outlines what sexual assault victims are entitled to and can expect in an investigation after their assault.

New Attorney General vows to clear rape kit backlog
— Kathryn Palmer, The Missourian, Jan 31, 2019

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announces that testing previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits through their FY 18 SAKI funding is a priority for his office.

9 On Your Side investigates rape kit backlog in East
— Courtney Allen, WNCT9, Jan 29, 2019

Greenville, NC has testing 74 previously unsubmitted kits and has uploaded 21 cases into CODIS. Seven of those cases have been identified as offenders previously known to the police and two were identified as serial rapists offending the Greenville community.

NC has more than 10,000 untested rape kits. A new plan aims to erase the backlog.
— Josh Shaffer, The News & Observer, Jan 29, 2019

NC Attorney General Josh Stein announced the introduction of the Survivors Act which asks for $6 Million in funding for testing previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits and set standards for submitting kits to the crime lab.

DNA from 2014 Seattle sexual assault matched to man already serving time for rape
— Sara Jean Green, The Seattle Times, Jan 26, 2019

DNA from a previously unsubmitted sexual assault kit matched that of a man who was already serving time in prison for another sexual assault.

The evidence from their sexual assault is not languishing in a room somewhere' - a rape kit update from the state
— Rebecca Palsha, KTUU 2, Jan 25, 2019

The Alaska Department of Public Safety has used SAKI funding to test 400 of their 600 previously unsubmitted kits and 50 DNA profiles that were eligible, have been uploaded to CODIS.

Fayetteville police using consumer DNA kits to help solve cold cases
— WRAL, Jan 24, 2019

Fayetteville Police Department is now using consumer DNA tests like 23andMe to solve cold cases through genealogical DNA.

'You can get justice': Utah rape kit initiative pushing for prosecution statewide
— Ashley Imlay, Deseret News Utah, Jan 1, 2019

The Utah Sexual Assault Kits Initiative prosecuted its first case resulting from testing a previously unsubmitted sexual assault kit from 2009.