rape kit

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After Her Own Rape Kit Languished, She Took Action

Advocate Natasha Alexenko has died at age 51

(Newser) - Natasha Alexenko survived one night of horror and a decade of inaction—two experiences that turned her into "a powerful advocate for ending the national backlog of rape-kit testing," reports the New York Times in her obituary. Alexenko died Oct. 31 at age 51 from complications of amyotrophic...

Woman Sues After Cops Use Rape Kit DNA to Arrest Her

She reported sexual assault in 2016, was arrested in theft case in 2021

(Newser) - A woman whose own rape kit was used against her by police now wants some payback. The woman identified only as Jane Doe has sued the city of San Francisco for unspecified damages over the case that made national headlines, reports BuzzFeed . After the woman reported a sexual assault to...

Rape Kit Comes Back to Haunt Victim in SF
Rape Kit Comes Back
to Haunt Victim in SF
UPDATED
Feb 24, 2022 12:00 AM CST

Rape Kit Comes Back to Haunt Victim in SF

But the practice has now been formally ended

(Newser) - Update: San Francisco officials announced Wednesday that the city's police department will no longer use DNA from survivors of sexual assaults and other crimes to investigate other, unrelated crimes. The practice ended as soon as the DA's office last week submitted a complaint, and it was formally put...

Suit: For Months, Cop Gained Teen's Trust. Then He Raped Her

Complaint filed by mom says Rodney Vicknair was officer originally sent to take girl for a rape exam

(Newser) - A New Orleans cop is now a former one after accusations that he groomed and raped a 14-year-old girl he'd taken for a rape evaluation. The allegations against Rodney Vicknair are detailed in a lawsuit by the teen's mother, which says that Vicknair was the police officer dispatched...

8K Rape Kits Were Finally Tested. Nearly a Quarter Had a 'Hit'

Results in Florida could potentially spur leads in thousands of unsolved cases

(Newser) - Officials in Florida have finally made headway with a huge backlog of the state's rape kits, and out of the thousands that have been tested over the past four years or so, a significant number of "hits" have emerged from a DNA database. The Tallahassee Democrat and Orlando ...

Battle Ensued Over Show That Left People 'Sobbing'

Creator of 'Grey's Anatomy' refused to back down about showing rape kits

(Newser) - Shonda Rhimes had to fight ABC over this week's Grey's Anatomy—an episode inspired by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, BuzzFeed reports. Seems standards and practices was worried about the story's focus on how rape kits are used in hospitals. "...

New York, Feds Pay to Test Rape Kits Around the Nation

Funding has helped bring hundreds of convictions

(Newser) - Languishing evidence in over 100,000 sexual assault cases around the country has been sent for DNA testing with money from a New York prosecutor and federal authorities, spurring more than 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions in three years, officials say. It's estimated that another 155,000...

Victims Were Charged $3K for Rape Kits. Now, This

Six hospitals should have billed the state or insurers

(Newser) - Six New York hospitals have agreed to repay sexual assault victims who were illegally charged as much as $3,000 for rape examinations that should've been billed to the state or their insurers, Attorney General Barbara Underwood said Thursday. The hospitals—five in New York City and the other...

Rape Kit That Sat Untested for 11 Years Turns Up a Match

Darin Bolar arrested for kidnapping, rape of 14-year-old Seattle girl in 2007

(Newser) - In October 2007, a 14-year-old girl was kidnapped while looking for a pay phone in the Beacon Hill section of Seattle and repeatedly raped by her abductor over the next couple of days before escaping. Now, 11 years later, police may have their man—but they may have had him...

Cops Destroyed Her Rape Kit, Then Did Something Unusual
Cops Destroyed Her Rape Kit,
Then Did Something Unusual
in case you missed it
Jan 6, 2018 5:14 PM CST

Cops Destroyed Her Rape Kit, Then Did Something Unusual

Fayetteville, NC, police called victims whose kits had been discarded

(Newser) - When Veronica was raped more than 13 years ago, she says neither the police nor the hospital staff believed her story that a longtime friend attacked her while his mother was in the next room. "I was treated like a female crying wolf," said Veronica, who says the...

With Huge Backlog, Texas Bill Wants to Crowdfund Rape Kit Testing

Donations collected at the DMV would fund DNA testing

(Newser) - With thousands of rape kits languishing untested in Texas, one state lawmaker devised a clever solution: crowdfunding. Rep. Victoria Neave came up with the idea after learning that many rape investigations were going nowhere because there was no money to analyze evidence collected from victims, NPR reports. The Dallas Democrat...

43 Years After Girls' Slayings, 2 Arrests

Cousins to be charged in cold case after California finally tested rape kit from 1973

(Newser) - Authorities have finally made arrests in the death of two girls in California more than 40 years later. Police say 65-year-old cousins Larry Patterson and William Harbour murdered Doris Derryberry, 13, and Valerie Lane, 12, after they vanished from a shopping mall in 1973. The girls were found dead, each...

Being Raped Was Her 1st Ordeal. Finding a Rape Kit Was Her 2nd
Being Raped Was
Her 1st Ordeal.
Finding a Rape Kit
Was Her 2nd
in case you missed it
Aug 28, 2016 5:19 PM CDT

Being Raped Was Her 1st Ordeal. Finding a Rape Kit Was Her 2nd

Cosmopolitan looks at one woman's 9-hour quest to get one

(Newser) - For those women who have the courage to report a rape at a hospital ER, you'd expect a rape kit would be provided. That wasn't the case for Dinisha Ball. Jillian Keenan recounts the Texas woman's ordeal—a 9-hour period that saw her visit three ERs—in...

Detroit's Abandoned Rape Kits Get Assist From Erykah Badu

She'll donate funds from concert to the cause

(Newser) - More than 11,300 abandoned, untested rape kits were found in a Detroit Police Department storage unit in 2009—and now Erykah Badu is helping to finish getting them tested. Around 10,000 of them have been tested so far, and the singer will donate funds from her Aug. 12...

Untested Rape Kits in 27 States to Be Dusted Off

Feds, NYC providing $79M to clear backlog

(Newser) - The federal government has teamed up with the New York City DA's office to combat the only thing standing between many rapists and justice: a lack of money. There's a huge backlog of untested rape kits around the country—it could run into the hundreds of thousands —...

We Haven't Tested 70K Rape Kits, and Probably Lots More

'USA Today' investigation shows staggering number of languishing kits

(Newser) - Gathering forensic evidence after a sexual assault is a meticulous but invasive process that can take 3 to 6 hours, though it's a process that most victims hope will lead to catching their attackers. But according to what USA Today calls the "most detailed nationwide inventory of untested...

Old Rape Kits in Houston Are a DNA Jackpot

After 6,663 tested, FBI's DNA database returns 850 hits

(Newser) - Since 2013, Houston has been going through some 6,663 rape kits that had never been tested ; some were almost 30 years old. Now the effort is complete, and authorities have found 850 matches with the FBI's DNA records, the AP reports. Twenty-nine people have been charged as part...

Rape Victim: I Was Hounded About Faulty Hospital Bill

Hospital threatened to send bill to collections if she didn't pay for rape kit

(Newser) - Christine is a sexual assault forensic nurse from suburban Chicago; helping to put together Highland Park Hospital's sexual assault response protocol was one of her duties. So it was a particularly unwelcome surprise when, after she went to that same hospital in 2013 after being raped, she received a...

NY DA Offers $35M to Clear Nat'l Backlog of Rape Kits

Hundreds of thousands languish untested nationwide

(Newser) - Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced yesterday as he pledged as much as $35 million to help eliminate a backlog that has long troubled authorities, victims, and lawmakers. Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape...

Decades-Old Rape Kits Point to a Serial Rapist

Houston PD IDs Herman Ray Whitfield, links him to 4 rapes thanks to newly tested kits

(Newser) - It's been a recurring chorus nationwide: a clamor over rape kits that have sat on dusty shelves, untested. Houston was no exception, with some 6,600 kits having been kept in an HPD property room since 1987. About a year ago, two outside labs started going through the backlog...

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