(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 July 1, 2014:
- A total of 140 law enforcement agencies in Ohio have submitted 8,001 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 4,108 rape kits submitted as part of the SAK Testing Initiative.
- The DNA testing has led to 1,474 hits in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), and all investigative lead information associated with the hits has been returned to the investigating agencies.
"The impact of this initiative continues to be substantial," said Attorney General DeWine. "If not for this initiative, kits that likely never would have been tested are being tested, and cases that may have never been solved are being solved."
Background on the SAK Initiative:
After taking office in January 2011, Attorney General DeWine learned that many law enforcement agencies across the state were in possession of thousands of rape kits that had never been submitted for DNA testing, some of which were associated with crimes that occurred decades ago.
While law enforcement agencies are not required by law to submit those kits to a lab for testing, Attorney General DeWine developed the SAK Testing Initiative in an effort to test as many of the previously untested kits as possible. Attorney General DeWine urged law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio to send all of their previously untested kits to the BCI crime lab for DNA testing free of charge.
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 DNA associated with current crimes.
In Cuyahoga County alone, 110 indictments have been returned in connection with the SAK Testing Initiative.
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Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840