Nine charged after tests of rape kits
State’s backlog expected to be cleared by this fall
MADISON - Nine people, including two men accused of sexually assaulting children, have so far been criminally charged after an analysis of thousands of previously untested rape kits, the state Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The charges come after department officials in 2014 learned that over 6,000 untested rape kits sat in police and hospital storage rooms across Wisconsin for decades, preventing survivors from getting justice. Trained medical professionals collect samples of skin, fingernails and more for these kits that can be analyzed for DNA if a victim consents to testing.
The Department of Justice has since analyzed over 4,300 kits, with 101 remaining that still need to be tested in cases where someone was already convicted. Nearly 500 DNA results have matched offender profiles in the FBI’s national database, and over 1,000 profiles were uploaded to the system.
Not all of the 6,000 kits were designated for testing. In the bulk of these cases, the victim did not consent to the test, or a conviction had already been secured, according to the department’s website.
Officials anticipate testing to be complete this fall.
In total, 35 cases have been referred to local prosecutors for charging decisions. Some were brought back to the Department of Justice, while others did not result in charges.
The bulk of the nine charges are for varying degrees of sexual assault and span several counties, including Dane, Milwaukee, Oneida and Winnebago. The most recent case was filed earlier this month against a Plover man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2012 in a Stevens Point home while her baby was in the same room.
Charges against a man in Milwaukee County for kidnapping and false imprisonment associated with a rape kit test were dismissed last week.
In an interview with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, state Attorney General Josh Kaul said he anticipates more charges in the future, but noted that a DNA match doesn’t necessarily mean prosecutors can bring a case, depending on other evidence available.
“Sexual assault is a serious, violent crime, and the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault needs to be a priority,” he said.
A USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin investigation found the previous delay in testing stemmed in part from police neglect, as well as former Attorney General Brad Schimel’s insistence on saving taxpayer money.
Wisconsin received $4 million in federal grants in 2015 to help clear the backlog, but opted to send kits to private labs instead of hiring additional state workers. As a result, testing didn’t start until January 2017. A majority of the kits had been tested by the time Schimel left office in January 2018, and several of the criminal cases were filed by then.
Kaul made Schimel’s response a focal point of his successful campaign to unseat the former attorney general. Since he took office, the Democrat has touted legislation that would require doctors and nurses who collect evidence to report an assault to police within 24 hours, if the victim wishes to notify law enforcement.
The proposal also lays out requirements for submitting and storing evidence on behalf of victims who choose not to report their assault to police.
The department on Wednesday also announced that it has notified survivors about the results of 82 kits. Police ultimately make the decision about whether to notify someone, Kaul said, but the department wants to ensure any notification is done in a safe, trauma-sensitive manner.
“If a survivor wants to be notified about the results of testing, they absolutely should be notified about those results,” Kaul said.
Survivors looking for information about their kit can contact the law enforcement agency where they reported their assault, a local sexual assault service provider, or the DOJ Office of Crime Victim Services at 1-800-4466564.