Kentucky has nearly eliminated its backlog of rape kit testing and the results have already begun to pay off.
Gretchen Hunt, who heads the Office of Victims Advocacy for Attorney General Andy Beshear, said around 3,300 kits were submitted by law enforcement. About 3,100 were sent for processing and 3,000 have been tested.
“We now have 110 hits which have been matched to people in the DNA database, who have already committed felonies, but that’s really just the beginning,” she said.
Not all the kits have been processed to completion, so she expects more hits will occur as the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab continues checking the results. They have generated 600 profiles into their system, which could result in solving more crimes, even if they don’t have a hit right now. There has already been an indictment in a Jefferson County rape case.
Two issues caused the backlog, according to Hunt.
“The first was a resource issue. For years, the crime lab hadn’t had enough staffing, so there were long waits for all kinds of DNA evidence, not just sexual assaults,” she said. “The second is that, for years, there was not a real clear policy to tell law enforcement what they should do with the kits.”
That was resolved in 2016 when the General Assembly passed legislation spelling out the requirements. Training for law enforcement on the value of DNA and the traumatic impact of rape was also in the bill.
“Now we know submitting that DNA evidence may solve other crimes, including homicides,” she said. “Our entire office is focused on this every day, from criminal to civil, to victims’ advocacy.”
Rape conviction rates are abysmal, Hunt said. “In Kentucky, we need to move from only a three percent conviction rate, so training will increase that number.”
This is not the first time Kentucky has had such a backlog. “This tells us it’s a deeper issue than just kits on a shelf. It is how we consider rape as a violent crime. We’re really addressing it that way, how to make systemic changes so we, as a society, hold offenders more accountable and restore victims.”
Former State Auditor Adam Edelen uncovered more than 3,000 untested rape kits languishing at police departments and the Kentucky State Police lab in 2015. Beshear said he has made this a priority since taking office.
The legislature provided up to $4.5 million over five years to upgrade the KSP Crime Lab, which came from settlement money obtained by the Attorney General’s office. Beshear contributed an additional $1 million to aid law enforcement and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases. Funding also came through a grant from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Kentucky is one of the first in the nation to examine the rape kit backlog at the state level, although cities such as Houston, Los Angeles, Detroit and New Orleans have a similar program on the local level. Kentucky’s program will mirror the one in Houston, but on a much larger scale.
Clearing rape kit testing backlog already beginning to reap results
