HELENA – Members of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Task Force met at the Montana State Law Enforcement Academy to discuss the project and what the future holds for victims of sexual assault.
The subject of conversation was not a light one, speaking about the process of the invasive procedure and the science behind it all, with a small team of Serologists, who all work in collaboration when testing for DNA of the perpetrator after an assault.
Among the deep conversation of science behind helping the victims, one topic of choice was the discussion of Attorney General Tim Fox’s initiative regarding Senate Bill 52, victim rights, and the development of the kit tracking system and its successes.
Senate Bill 52 will impact the collection and processing of evidence for kits in the state of Montana.
Currently, 9-12 cases are analyzed weekly by serologists, who test for the Y chromosomes during the quantification of male DNA.
431 cases have been confirmed by the kit’s accuracy. As of today, 812 cases are still pending results.
In 2016, SAKI was granted a federal grant of $2 million to test and track un-submitted evidence for kits from across the state.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Jon Bennion, spoke to MTN about what steps will be taken in for the future of those affected by sexual assault, stating, “ That’s part of the whole, what we are doing right now, is… how do we make sure that when somebody has gone through that entire process, that law enforcement, prosecutors, that victim advocates, that we, do everything we can and leave no stone un-turned, on those sex assault kits.”
Bennion continued “it could be evidence of a crime that was committed and used in the prosecution and bring an offender to justice, and bring some closure to survivors of sexual assault, that’s really the whole point of this project.”
The SAKI Task Force was started in 2015 and meets regularly to update efforts to end the backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits.
A major topic was the passage of the Senate bill 52, which requires health care facilities to get written consent from the patient before the kit is turned over to law enforcement, once consent is obtained, the facility has 24 hours to notify investigative agencies.
Any agency that takes possession of one of the evidence kit had 30 days to submit evidence and the following police report to an accredited crime lab for testing.
The Department of Justice must also create a system allow victims with an anonymous way to track the evidence kits via criminal justice processes.
Montana started with more than 1200 untested evidence kits from more than 40 jurisdictions.
Related:
Ending the Backlog: Now that Montana’s rape kits are tested, what happens next?
Bullock signs bill to continue work of Montana sexual assault task force
New task force will focus on protecting Native American kids in the Indian Health Service
Revisions including collection, delivery and tracking of sexual assault evidence kits coming to Montana
