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ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — Following a 2017 Indiana State Police audit, St. Joseph County legal officials promise changes are coming to the record keeping of sexual assault kits. Prosecutor Ken Cotter’s four-month investigation found 331 rape kits went untested for legitimate reasons (e.g. victims ended the legal process, defendant was convicted). However, Cotter says mistakes were made with 83 untested kits.

“The short of it is, law enforcement messed up,” admitted Cotter. “Law enforcement did not send these when we should have.”

Reasons for the 83 untested kits range from the case not being forwarded to investigators to reports indicating the kits were sent to the lab when they were found in a department storage facility. The unassigned cases are being investigated by a detective.

The county prosecutor says three detectives are no longer with the SVU, due to failing to submit kits for testing when they believed or reported they did; their respective police departments will determine if any action will be taken against the officers.

“The number one priority is holding people accountable for what they had done — appropriately — not because we made a mistake. Those facts are there,” added Cotter.

Linda Baechle, CEO of the YWCA North Central Indiana, says the findings of the investigation are disappointing.

“It sends a terrible message to victims about how seriously their case is being taken, even though I know that was not the intention,” said Baechle. “We’re grateful for the catch because it means that other cases that might have just sat there with no action — those cases are now sent into be processed.”

Cotter wanted to assure victims his staff takes seriously the testing of rape kits.

“We didn’t do what we should have done,” he said. “We are going to ensure that never happens again. That’s what I want victims to understand.”

To prevent a repeat, Cotter says changes include:
-A yearly re-audit of all cases involving sexual assault kits to make sure they are sent to the lab
-Ensuring every rape kit is associated with a lab number
-Recording rape kits on a spreadsheet to make sure every case is followed through
-Differentiate between the purpose of the kit (some kits have been used to gather DNA evidence on non-sexual assault cases)

All 83 inappropriately untested kits have been sent to the laboratory. Once the results are returned, the Lead Prosecutor for Sexual Assaults will examine them to determine if further action is needed.

Source: WNDU