Test of old rape kit leads to indictment of man on sexual assault charges

A rape kit that sat on a shelf for a dozen years just put a valley man behind bars. December 18, 2017 PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A rape kit that sat on a shelf for a dozen years just put a valley man behind bars. A Maricopa County grand jury indicted 28-year-old Michael Paladino on six counts of sexual assault The push to get through the county's backlo...

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Audit finds over 3,000 Alaskan rape kits not tested

According to Alaska DPS, a statewide inventory of untested sexual assault kits – dating back to the year 2000 – was performed as a result of SB-55, which passed in 2017. November 28, 2017 A recently released document shows 3,484 sexual assault kits (SAK), taken as evidence by law enforcement agencies, were not submitted for serological testing at a...

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Washington state gets $3M to ease backlog of 6,000 untested rape kits

Washington state is getting $3 million in federal grant money to continue analyzing forensic evidence in previously untested rape kits. Some of the money will go to creating a cold-case team to investigate sexual assaults that may have occurred years, even decades, ago. Enter Article DATE HERE The state's ongoing efforts to analyze DNA from th...

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San Diego police, council clash over rape kit testing

Council members want police to test nearly 2,000 kits — used to gather and preserve evidence in rape cases — sitting in the Police Department evidence room that date back as far as the 1990s. Enter Article DATE HERE San Diego police say confusion about rape kits has left them with $500,000 set aside to do tests that are highly unlikely to help...

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Mold found in containers of about 850 Austin police rape kits

An audit found that of 1,629 cases stored in the refrigerator, 849 showed some signs of mold on the outside. Enter Article DATE HERE Hundreds of sexual assault kits in Austin police storage have been determined to have mold growing on the outside of them, prompting officials to seek guidance from state and national experts about how to properl...

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Rape kit testing lags, so lawmakers want California taxpayers to donate

At least 175,000 have been documented by advocates, while the federal Department of Justice put its estimate at 400,000 several years ago June 21, 2017 Hundreds of thousands of rape kits are sitting untested at crime labs and law enforcements agencies across the country. That figure – at least 175,000 have been documented by advocates, while the fe...

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Pa. shows significant progress in reducing backlog of untested sexual assault evidence

The issue came to light after a 2015 USA Today investigation estimated that more than 100,000 rape kits - evidence collected after reported sexual assaults - were untested nationwide. Enter Article DATE HERE A new state report shows a one-time embarrassment for Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies is getting significant correction. In li...

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Rape kit law speeds up testing process


Gov. Gary Herbert signed House Bill 200 on March 22, which now requires local law enforcement agencies to submit sexual assault kits to state forensic labs for testing within 30 days of retrieval. March 29, 2017 Some advocates for sexual assault victims are praising Utah's new legislation regarding the processing of rape kits. Gov. Gary Herber...

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Over 700 Untested Rape Kits Found By SFPD


"While I appreciate the progress, this also doesn't account for the other 1,135 unprocessed rape kits that sit untested at the SFPD because they have passed statute of limitations." February 27, 2017 SAN FRANCISCO—In 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors legislated that all rape kits, used to collect biological information from victims of se...

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Thousands of sexual assault evidence kits across Minnesota sit untested


By Minnesota law, sexual assault survivors don't have to decide whether they want to go to police when they arrive at a hospital to be examined.The reasoning: It's hard enough to decide, in those traumatic hours, to even come in for an exam. February 18, 2017 By Minnesota law, sexual assault survivors don't have to decide whether they want to go to...

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Rape Kit Backlog Testing to Finish This Year


More than 12,000 untested rape kits were discovered in evidence lockers and other places throughout the MPD in 2013. Some of the oldest kits dated back to 1976. January 17, 2017 The final, untested rape kits from the city's backlog of more than 12,000 should be sent to labs for review in a few months, Memphis City Council members were told Tuesday....

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Evidence on Ice


​Santa Fe PD is ahead in processing rape kits—because they already cleaned out a freezer full of them -  December 16, 2016 The trouble started with a freezer, and the question of just what could be done to get rid of it and open up some space at the Santa Fe Police Department headquarters. Someone cracked the door, and found materials tied to ...

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Florida addresses untested rape kits with new law


A new law passed in July now requires that all sexual assault kits in the state of Florida to be processed in the laboratory within 120 days. October 27, 2016 FORT MYERS, Fla. — A new law passed in July now requires that all sexual assault kits in the state of Florida to be processed in the laboratory within 120 days. Over 13,000 samples ...

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Obama Just Signed a Bill of Rights for Sexual-Assault Survivors


Rape kits—more than 100,000 of them, as of 2014—have often languished for years in police warehouses and crime labs, going untested due to a lack of funds and, some argue, contempt for victims. October 7, 2016 President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that guarantees s...

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Testing of Oregon's shelved sexual assault kits nets first 5 DNA matches


Six months after three counties in Oregon began shipping hundreds of untested DNA samples from alleged victims of sexual assault to a Utah lab, the first results are in: Five match known offenders in a criminal database. October 3, 2016 Six months after three counties in Oregon began shipping hundreds of untested DNA samples from alleged victi...

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Rape Survivors Are Suing to Have Their Rape Kits Processed


Marlowe isn't alone. An estimated 400,000 untested rape kits languish nationwide, according to the US Department of Justice. Now, Marlowe and other rape survivors like her are turning to the courts, claiming that cities that ignore potential DNA evidence are violating survivors' civil rights. September 28, 2016 Heather Marlowe was raped at a party ...

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