News

Iowa releases findings in sexual assault kit tracking initiative
— KCCI Des Moines, Nov 20, 2021

The Iowa SAKI project tested more than 1,600 sexual assault kits, which resulted in four criminal charges and two convictions. “We applaud this six-year effort to improve how sexual assault kits are handled,” Attorney General Tom Miller said. “Not only has the SAKI program been able to reduce the number of untested sexual assault kits, it has also created meaningful and lasting changes to the processes by which state and local practitioners respond to and investigate sexual assault cases.”

Marietta man, 55, arrested in sexual assault cold case from 1990
— Caroline Silva, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov 19, 2021

For more than 30 years, all the leads in a Cobb County sexual assault case never led to an arrest, authorities said. But thanks to the testing of a previously untested sexual assault kit, a Marietta man has finally been put behind bars.

Milwaukee man charged with sex assault after backlogged kit tested
— Fox 6 News, Nov 18, 2021

A Milwaukee man has been charged with sexual assault that occurred in 2008 after a victim’s sexual assault kit was tested as part of the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on Thursday, Nov. 18.

WCASA and Joyful Heart Foundation Applaud Passage of Sexual Assault Kit Reform Bills
— Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Nov 11, 2021

Wisconsin representatives have passed SB71 and SB94—two bills that together will vastly increase transparency around sexual assault kit handling and storage. SB71 and SB94, would now mandate delivery of rape kits to the appropriate testing labs and establish a statewide rape kit tracking system, respectively.

Former Duluth man charged in 2003 sexual assault of teen
— Tom Olsen, Duluth News Tribune, Nov 8, 2021

Man was charged by summons last week with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the April 2003 incident in the Chester Park area. The case came as a result of the Duluth Police Department's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

Repeat sex offender sentenced in 2003 rape at drive-in, DA says
— Fox 13 Memphis Staff , Fox 13 Memphis, Oct 29, 2021

DNA evidence from previously untested SAK led to CODIS hit and subsequent sentencing of man to 25 years in prison without parole Friday for the rape of a woman at a drive-in where he had taken her on their first date in 2003.

Suspect arrested in connection to sexual assault on ASU campus
— 12 News, Oct 29, 2021

Maricopa County District Attorney's Office assists Tempe Police in connecting man to sexual assault on ASU's Tempe campus thanks to DNA evidence.

Alleged serial rapist arrested in Phoenix after 15 years
— Tyler Dukes, News & Observer, Oct 28, 2021

An alleged serial rapist has been arrested in Phoenix and faces multiple charges after three separate allegations of sexual assault over a 15-year period.

Man pleads guilty to pair of 2015 sexual assaults at Duke hospital and Durham trail
— Tyler Dukes, News & Observer, Oct 26, 2021

A Durham County court sentenced a man to up to 24 years in prison Monday for a pair of 2015 sexual assaults solved as investigators continue to work through a backlog of untested rape kits.

Madison man charged with sexual assault after matching DNA found in 2 rape kits
— Logan Rude, Chanel 3000, Oct 21, 2021

A Madison man was charged Wednesday with sexual assault after his DNA matched with DNA from another rape kit.