News

Hotline breaks 12-year-old rape cold case
— Pat Reavy, Deseret News Utah, Oct 4, 2018

DNA testing and the establishment of a hotline by the Utah Department of Public Safety has lead to charges in the 2006 kidnapping and rape of a then 16-year-old girl.

North Carolina Gets $2 Million Federal Grant to Test Sexual Assault Kits
— Alex Olgin, WFAE 90.7, Oct 4, 2018

North Carolina received $2 million in funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to test previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits, investigate and prosecute the associated cases, and receive training on trauma-informed, victim-centered approaches.

Hawley's office receives grant for rape kit testing, tracking systems
— Barry Mangold, KMIZ 17, Oct 1, 2018

Josh Hawley, Missouri Attorney General, announced that his office has received a 2019 SAKI grant to begin testing the 5,424 previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits throughout the state of Missouri.

North Carolina Launches Sexual Assault Tracking System
— Alex Olgin, WFAE 90.7, Oct 1, 2018

The North Carolina Attorney General's office will be launching their new Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Technology Inventory Management System (STIMS) early next week. This system will allow victims to track their sexual assault kits as they go through processing.

Rape Kit Testing Leads to Arrests
— KOH AM 780 News Talk, Sep 28, 2018

As of September, the testing of previously unsubmitted rape kits has lead to 13 arrests in Nevada.

Sex offender charged with Seattle cold case rape, was serial groping suspecy
— DeeDee Sun & Casey McNerthney, KIRO 7, Sep 28, 2018

A Seattle man has been charged with child rape after his DNA was a match to a previously unsubmitted sexual assault kit from 2007. Funding from SAKI grants and legislation passed in 2015, have helped Washington state process sexual assault kits and find hits such as this one.

SAKI TTA Webinar: Beyond Conviction Rates: Measuring Success in Sexual Assault Prosecutions
— SAKI TTA, Sep 27, 2018

This webinar was presented by Jennifer Long, CEO of AEquitas and Elaine Borakove, President of the Justice Management Institute. The prosecution of sexual violence is unlike the prosecution of other crimes. While success in criminal cases is traditionally determined by whether or not a conviction is obtained, conviction rates alone fail to capture the unique challenges in sexual violence cases, the victim’s experience with the criminal justice system, and the strengths and opportunities for improvement in our practices.

GBI hopes to have rape kit backlog cleared by end of year; 1 Gainesville case remains
— Nick Watson, The Gainesville Times, Sep 26, 2018

Only 73 unsubmitted sexual assault nurse examiner kits need to be tested out of the more than 2,700 kits that were accounted for by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations in 2016.

Mobile initiative to punish sexual assault wins $2 Million in new grants
— Lawrence Specker, Sep 26, 2018

Thanks to their multiple SAKI grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the, Mobile Police Department has been able to work through their previously submitted sexual assault kit sand create a multi-disciplinary team consisting of investigators, prosecutors, victim advocates, and academic experts. The 2018 grant funding will be used to sustain investigative positions and add positions for victim advocates and data analysts.

TPD awarded 2018 Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grant
— KJRH 2 Tulsa, Sep 25, 2018

Tulsa police were awarded with a $1.5 million Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant for a three-year project.