Ohio Rape Kits Update: 12,000 Kits Tested Before 2017

OHIO - In an effort to rectify a longstanding problem in the state's treatment of rape cases, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that 12,000 rape kits, many of them related to years-old cases, have now been tested. In Cuyahoga County, this initiative has led to hundreds of indictments.

DeWine launched the initiative in 2011 after media pressure brought to light the fact that police departments across the state were in possession of rape kits that had never been sent to a DNA lab for testing. DeWine asked the departments to send in their kits for testing, with no attached cost.

Ohio's police departments responded by sending in 13,931 rape kits. Testing on those kits has led to 4,367 hits in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), linking crimes to offenders, identifying serial rapists, and giving law enforcement agencies critical evidence to help solve brutal attacks.

Testing is overseen by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). To aid the testing efforts, DeWine hired 10 additional forensic scientists to the team.

Submitting rape kits within 30 days of a reported incident became mandatory following the passage of Senate Bill 316, which went into effect Mar. 23 2015. That law also required police departments to submit their untested, older kits within one year. After the law went into effect, 4,601 kits were submitted for testing.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch