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Attorney General Mike DeWine
AG Releases
March Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative Update
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today released a
status update on the progress of DNA testing being conducted as part of
the Ohio Attorney General's Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) Testing Initiative.
Status of Initiative as of Monday, March 2, 2015:
• A total of 152 law enforcement agencies in Ohio have submitted 9,237
rape kits for testing by the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal
Investigation (BCI) as part of the SAK Testing Initiative.
• Forensic scientists at BCI have completed testing on a total of 6,577
rape kits submitted as part of the SAK Testing Initiative.
• The DNA testing has led to 2,465 hits in the Combined DNA Index
System (CODIS), and all investigative lead information associated with
the hits has been returned to the investigating agencies.
In Cuyahoga County alone, 259 defendants have been indicted following
DNA testing conducted as part of the effort.
Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative
The Attorney General's Office today also released a new video detailing
the success of the Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative. The
video is available on the Ohio Attorney General's website.
Background on the SAK Initiative:
Attorney General DeWine launched the initiative in 2011 after learning
that dozens of law enforcement agencies across the state were in
possession of rape kits, some of which were decades old, that had never
been sent to a DNA lab for testing. Attorney General DeWine then
made an open call to law enforcement to send their kits to BCI for DNA
testing at no cost to them.
To handle the influx of the thousands of kits, Attorney General DeWine
hired ten additional forensic scientists to ensure the timely analysis
of kits submitted as part of the SAK Testing Initiative. By
hiring this additional staff, the older kits are tested as quickly as
possible, without slowing down the testing of the more than 6,790 rape
kits associated with recent crimes tested by BCI since 2011.
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