Columbus police will analyze untested rape kits under a state grant

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The State of Ohio has awarded the Columbus Police Department $350,000 to analyze untested rape kits as part of a series of grants designed to facilitate investigations of sexual assault cases and reduce law enforcement costs in the state.

Governor Mike DeWine announced this month that nearly $900,000 in grants would be awarded to law enforcement, prosecutors and victim advocacy groups to support victims of sexual violence and “hold attackers accountable.”

The Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services has awarded the Columbus Division of Police $350,000, the largest amount awarded to any agency in this round of grants. The police department will use the money to test 175 sex offender kits and enter suspect profiles into the national DNA database in collaboration with the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

According to the Columbus Division of Police Crime Lab, 637 sex crime kits are awaiting testing and 69 are currently under investigation. The department has 1,004 sex crime reports classified as active investigations. The testing of 175 sex crime kits made possible by the grant will help investigators solve the cases and “ideally” lead to the prosecution of the perpetrators, a Columbus police spokesperson said.

“The overall goal is to use BCI to reduce the backlog of test kits in the CPD lab,” the spokesperson said. “This will allow future testing of sexual assault test kits to be done in a more timely manner and reduce future backlogs in the interest of justice for victims of sexual assault.”

The office is awarding the funds through the new Ohio Sexual Assault Investigations Grant Program. Funding for the program was secured by the Ohio General Assembly in the operating budget.

DeWine launched the program in February to help with the costs of sexual assault investigations, prosecutions and victim advocacy. He said the program builds on a special initiative he launched in 2011 while serving as Ohio’s attorney general that tested more than 13,000 rape kits from local law enforcement agencies, many of which were decades old.

Lack of funding is one of the main reasons rape kits aren’t tested – testing a rape kit costs between $1,000 and $1,500, according to the nonprofit advocacy group End the Backlog. Additionally, crime labs collect DNA samples from hundreds or even thousands of crime scenes each year, resulting in long turnaround times for evidence. Many police departments lack the resources to investigate or pursue leads from sex offender kits, the nonprofit explains.

“Those who commit sexual assault are among the worst of the worst, and we are providing these resources not only to get perpetrators off the streets, but also to ensure victims have ongoing access to support,” DeWine said in a press release.

Other institutions that received funding in the first round of the program include:

• The Forensic Nursing Network will receive $244,841.23 to develop training programs for sex crime kits specifically used for victims who may have been drugged or ingested substances, as well as suspect kit collection. Funds will also be used to purchase sex crime kits for forensic nurses.
• The Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office will receive $161,355.88 to fund a position to investigate leads resulting from testing of sex offender kits in child sexual assault cases.
• The Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center receives $100,000 to develop a sex crimes training program and guide.
• The Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office will receive $43,410.57 to fund the position of a victim advocate focused on assisting victims of sexual violence who have undergone an examination using a sex offender kit.

The Office of Criminal Justice Services is expected to begin accepting applications for the next round of funding later this month.