News

Missouri Attorney General’s office praises law enforcement, community leaders in SAFE Kit Initiative Awards ceremony
— KTTN News, Jun 7, 2023

" Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office awarded SAFE Kit Initiative Service Awards to area law enforcement agencies and community partners for their dedication toward the eradication of untested sexual assault kits throughout the state. “The Attorney General’s Office has made great progress in the fight to clear the backlog of untested sexual assault kits throughout the state, but we haven’t done it alone,” said Attorney General Bailey."

New Jersey lawyer charged for series of Boston rapes in 2007 and 2008
— ABC News, Jun 7, 2023

Melo is the sixth subject arrested by Boston Police since they created a new initiative to solve cold rape cases last year. WCBB investigative reporter Karen Anderson has been covering the slew of arrests since 2022 after the city received a $2.5 million federal grant to send a thousand rape kits for enhanced testing. They're going through every single case and making sure that it is all given the same respect and attention that it deserves. That grant money is part of a wider push nationwide by the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative which has awarded more than $320 million to state and local jurisdictions and has resolved thousands of cases of sexual assault and homicides since 2015

Why Kalamazoo’s cold case sexual assault team is the ‘gold standard’
— Mlive, Jun 3, 2023

"A team that investigates sexual assault cold cases -- called the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative -- has been dubbed the “gold standard” in Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. The Kalamazoo SAKI project started in 2017, and is funded through grants. It started investigating untested sexual assault kits and prosecuting cases. Kalamazoo County had about 180 untested kits when the project started, but they’ve all been tested now, Nessel said during a news conference in Kalamazoo on Friday, June 2."

Calhoun Co. man sentenced to prison for 2 sexual assault cold cases
— Fox 17 online, May 20, 2023

“Our SAKI units throughout the state are uniquely qualified to close these long cold sexual assault cases and stop multiple offenders from making victims of more Michigan residents,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. “I’m thankful for the team in Calhoun County who worked toward these convictions and, as always, we hope this allows some closure for the survivors.” “The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative has been instrumental in bringing sex offenders to justice,” Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert added. “Advances in DNA technology and tenacious criminal investigations are pulling criminals out of the shadows.”

Kalamazoo SAKI Secures Convictions in 2010 Sexual Assaults
— Michigan.gov, May 15, 2023

Last week, the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) obtained 2 convictions against Jamaal Vincent, 39, of Kalamazoo, for the sexual assaults of two unrelated victims in 2010, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Madison man sentenced to 20 years in prison for 2017 sexual assault — his 57th criminal conviction
— Madison.com, May 12, 2023

"A Madison man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision for a 2017 sexual assault. The victim of the sexual assault was examined at a hospital. McDowell’s DNA was found on the victim, and matched DNA from another sexual assault kit tested as part of the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), the Justice Department said. In court, the jury was presented with evidence from the initiative. “This sentence ensures that the defendant who committed this serious violent crime will be behind bars for a long time,” state Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement."

Man pleads guilty to three rapes over 12 years, is sentenced to 10 years in prison
— nola.com, May 10, 2023

David Releford pleaded guilty this week to three counts of simple rape. New Orleans police matched his DNA to sperm samples collected from three rapes spanning from 2006 to 2018 after the third survivor, a New Orleans resident, identified him as her attacker.

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Cold Case Unit have charged a suspect in a 28-year-old sexual assault cold case investigation.
— charlottenc.gov, May 9, 2023

"On June 17, 1994, at 1:30 a.m., a 39-year-old victim reported to CMPD that an unknown subject had broken into her residence and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint. A sexual assault kit was completed on the victim and analyzed. Additional testing of the evidence was conducted in 2018, and in 2019, the forensic samples from the scene were linked to another sex assault in Columbia, South Carolina that happened in 2010. In 2022, with the assistance of funding from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), detectives utilized forensic genetic genealogy to identify a person of interest. A DNA sample was obtained from this subject, and it matched the DNA from both sexual assaults."

Minneapolis initiative to tackle untested rape kits brings first conviction
— Star Tribune, May 8, 2023

"For more than a decade, their rape kits sat untested on a shelf. But on Monday, two women who accused James Andrew Works, 49, of kidnapping and raping them for hours at gunpoint in 2010 said they no longer have to live in fear. Works was sentenced to 32½ years in prison after a Hennepin County jury found him guilty of all charges following a two-week trial. It's the first conviction resulting from a new initiative to tackle a backlog of untested sexual assault forensic exams in Minneapolis."

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has announced an arrest in the 2008 sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, thanks to DNA evidence from a previously untested sexual assault kit.
— 12News.com, May 8, 2023

"The sexual assault allegedly occurred at a party in the summer of 2008. The victim said two males lured her into a bedroom and assaulted her before a 17-year-old boy intervened and stopped the assault. MCSO said investigators collected evidence and interviewed witnesses before the case became inactive in 2009 after the victim chose not to participate in the investigation. The victim died in May 2015. In 2017, the agency received additional funds through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to test evidence from the 2008 case. The national initiative allocated money for agencies to process evidence from untested rape kits. The testing done in 2017 identified the DNA profile of a male, which was entered into a law enforcement database. About a year later, Rzeczycki was allegedly matched to that DNA profile. "