Rape kit backlog ends in North Carolina, AG says
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Attorney General Josh Stein announced on Tuesday that North Carolina has ended the backlog of untested older sexual assault kits.
Since 2017, Stein has prioritized ending the backlog to get justice for survivors. Working with the legislature and local law enforcement, the Department of Justice conducted a statewide inventory and discovered that more than 16,000 untested kits sat on the shelves of local law enforcement agencies in 2019.
Today is a great day: North Carolina has ended the rape kit backlog. I am incredibly proud of the bipartisan and collaborative effort that produced this achievement – Republican and Democratic legislators, district attorneys, and law enforcement officers all played a critical role in ending the backlog. I also want to thank the scientists at the State Crime Lab who have worked countless hours to get these kits tested. Most importantly, I thank the victims for their bravery in submitting the evidence so we can hold their rapists accountable. Today’s excellent news is the result of an impressive team effort, but our work doesn’t end now. We’ve put in place measures to ensure that we never get into this situation again in North Carolina, and I intend to continue to do everything in my power to help law enforcement solve cold cases and get rapists off the streets and behind bars.
Attorney General Josh Stein
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Stein worked with legislators to enact the Survivor Act. The law established a process to test older kits, provided significant funding, and set standards to ensure that law enforcement sends new kits for testing in a timely manner.
Attorney General Stein and the State Crime Lab implemented a tracking system to ensure that survivors, law enforcement, prosecutors and other stakeholders could monitor kits’ progress after they are collected. The attorney general’s office said the tracking system is in use and it will help prevent another backlog.
As of April 2024, 11,841 kits have been tested or are in the process of being tested, according to the attorney general’s office. From those kits, 5,075 samples have been entered into the CODIS DNA database, and CODIS has matched the samples to 2,702 kits.
According to the attorney general’s office, 2,024 of those samples had hits on offenders whose DNA is in the database due to previous convictions or arrests. Law enforcement has made 114 arrests based on those hits.
The attorney general’s office said the remaining 17 kits are in the process of testing.
“For far too long, the majority of sexual assault survivors were not getting the justice they deserved in North Carolina,” said Monika Johnson-Hostler, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. “Thanks to this effort, cold cases are moving forward and survivors can be assured that the justice system in this state cares about what happened to them and is fighting for them.”
A representative from the N.C. Republican Party said in a statement:
After eight years Josh Stein finally has completed a basic function of his job as Attorney General. After eight years, the State Crime Lab has “cleaned up” the mess left by his predecessor, Governor Roy Cooper. It’s sad this even needs to be celebrated and justice has been delayed far too long for too many victims. It is a credit to the increased funding and oversight provided by the Republican-led General Assembly that this dark chapter is finally closed.
The Department of Justice has a website that includes an interactive tracker of the rape kits.
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