For victims of rape, the hope their attackers will be caught and brought to justice is perhaps the only good that can come out of their physically and emotionally painful ordeal.
But even after the trauma rape victims are subjected to, some are also betrayed by the very system that promises to try to capture their attackers.
A recent “20/20” investigation led by correspondent Brian Ross uncovered thousands of rape kits, holding crucial DNA evidence that could potentially track down rapists, are sitting untested on police department shelves across the country because of a lack of funding.
Columbus Division of Police Detective Bob Moledor of the Sexual Abuse Squad said Columbus is not one of these cities.
“Here in Columbus, every kit that is collected is tested as a matter of policy. We take them from the hospital straight to the property room and crime lab where they are tested in order of arrival, unless an officer requests that a kit be expedited,” Moledor said.
The numerous cities “20/20” exposed for not sending all evidence kits to the lab – New York, for example, found 16,000 kits gathering dust – are so limited in funding they cut the expense of DNA testing.
Many large cities see such a high number of sexual assault cases that they cannot afford the cost, which is estimated to average about $500 per kit.
“It is certainly a deceptive practice. I think there is a presumption that after going through being raped and then the whole process of having evidence gathered, victims assume that the police are going to follow up and have the evidence tested,” Moledor said. “To go through all that and find out that the evidence is not being tested would have to be extremely upsetting.”
According to the “20/20” investigation, most cities with limited funds test kits only from cases with substantial evidence or those in which a suspect has been identified.
In Columbus, however, a system is set up with local sexual assault workers which allows for every kit to be examined. DNA evidence is then entered into a database to search for suspect matches.
“Columbus is very lucky to have a police department dedicated just to sexual assault cases that has funds to send all of the evidence to the lab for testing,” said Daphne Wade, a social worker at Grant Medical Center, home of the city’s largest trauma center.
An integral part of the sexual assault team, Wade works with victims and has seen firsthand how trying the experience is of having evidence collected following a rape.
“I don’t think they really have any concept of what’s going on at the time of the examination. I think at the moment I see them, things are just too raw for them to understand,” Wade said.
She said the partnership formed among Columbus police, nurses and volunteers in dealing with sexual assault cases has proven to be successful.
In most cases, she said, police officers bring the victim to the hospital for examination and a detective questions the patient there. The victim is seen by the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, a team of medical workers specifically trained to collect evidence in sexual assault cases and testify when necessary.
The protocol followed in collecting rape kit evidence is extensive yet sensitive to victims’ needs, said Lyen Djakov, program supervisor at the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio.
The lengthy exam, which can last up to two hours, is a head-to-toe assessment in which nurses collect evidence in the form of hair, oral and body swabs, fingernail scrapings and clothing and often take photographs of the victims’ injuries. Patients must be seen within 24 hours of the assault to ensure evidence is still present.
“The exam is extensive and invasive, and after the traumatic experience the patient’s had, it’s probably the last thing they want to go through,” Djakov said.
Moledor explained a national database is being developed to house all fingerprints and DNA evidence police collect in crime cases.
“It’s absolutely important to have every rape kit tested. Getting one good conviction or clearing one wrongfully accused person makes it all worthwhile and all the more reason to collect and test evidence in every situation,” Moledor said.
